Of Bets And Butterflies
by eishi
Summary: This was not happening. Stupid bets about messing with stupid feelings of stupid people happened only in trash fan fiction, not in real life! Too bad for Kyo that to him, reality was never being fair. KyoYuki
1. About the Bet

**A/N:** I know that this is a very common idea among fanfiction writers – one of the characters makes a bet and is forced to become romantically linked with some other character. Very easy and nice plot, but overused. I still wanted to make this fic, as an experiment about my skills and about this series, too. This is not intended to be a parody, as I can't write those, but I've tried to add as much humour as I could with my lacking skills. Because this is a test, and I already know that the plot is pretty much clichés after clichés, please give me comments about the grammar, the behaviour of the characters and so on. (Grammatical corrections are appreciated, since English isn't my mother tongue!)

Oh, and by the way, I've used a bit different versions of the names: _Tohru _is_ Touru, Kyou _is_ Kyo, Sohma _is_ Souma_. (These are alternative romanizations, and I won't change them.) Also, this fic is anime-based and may not fit into the canon of the manga.

**Warnings:** a bit of swearing, Kyo's wicked mind, KyoYuki pairing – shounen-ai (boyxboy) ahoy!

**Disclaimer:** Unfortunately, I don't own Fruits Basket or its characters, but is it a sin to wish I did?

* * *

_**Of Bets And Butterflies**_

_by eishi © 2007_

* * *

Chapter One: About the Bet

Had Souma Kyo known what was waiting for him that day, he'd chosen to skip it and stay in bed the whole day. Naturally, because seeing into the future is pretty hard (even if you tend to turn into a cat once in a while and have more of something called _instinct_ than most humans), he'd woken up like every other day, gotten dressed and went to school to spend to day in half-comatose. The first lessons had been quite nice, actually; the breaks had been pleasant, too. It was episode during the lunch break that had made him furious and hope to never have been woken up that day.

_Damn it all._

As he strolled down the forest path he took out his anger on every little rock he could kick and every little animal he could grimace at. The cats that usually liked to follow him were now carefully – and wisely – avoiding him, as was, in fact, all the other fauna too. The road in the woods seemed almost too quiet as the contrast for his angriness.

Stupid Yankee girl. Stupid wicked mind of hers. Stupid witch for agreeing. Stupid Touru for doing nothing. To hell with all girls. They were just so darn _frustrating_ creatures. Stupid school, stupid life… and most of all, stupid rat boy for interfering!

The reason for Kyo's anger was Uo. Well, fine, Hanajima and Touru had agreed with her, so they were also partly guilty… for that horrible, unimaginable, torturing—

Actually, it all had started few days ago, when Uo had taught them a new card game. It was pretty complicated game, with all those little rules and special cards that most of the time everyone was quite confused. Kyo hadn't been the only one that had thought that the game didn't exist in reality and Uo had just made it up herself. That had led to a little quarrel, which had led to a fight about the game and its rules, which had led them to playing the game with money. First Kyo had been winning, then Uo, then Hanajima, then Touru, and then Kyo again. (Everyone else had been so scared that they had decided not to enter the game.)

Then it had come to the point when the game had turned to a rivalry between him and Uo. Hanajima and Touru had watched them play fear in their eyes, wondering what could happen next. The worst thing happened. During this day's lunch break Uo had sneered and said that she could beat Kyo anytime.

Kyo, of course, had not been pleased with that statement. He had naturally said that the Yankee girl offered him no challenge. They had quarrelled again, and finally Uo had said something about a bet. Kyo had instantly agreed. Hanajima and Touru had looked at each other, then agreed with Uo. The stupid rivalry had to stop, and if the bet was the only way, so be it.

They had decided that the one who lost the game had to do something the other ordered as a punishment. Kyo had ordered Uo to dye her hair red. Uo had ordered Kyo to kiss the first person that came into the classroom. They both had agreed to their punishments, and the game had proceeded.

Kyo had lost. He was sure that the Yankee girl had cheated… She was _so_ going to pay for this…

Still, Kyo had not been worried. The odds were that his "punishment" was going to be one of the girls – likely one of those pretty, silent ones – since there were far more girls in their class than boys, and besides, most of the girls were tolerable and so on. He hadn't been worried at all.

Then the classroom door had opened, and his "punishment" had walked in. Kyo had almost jumped out of the window to commit a suicide the second he had seen the person.

He had to kiss _Souma Yuki_ as his punishment.

His cousin. His rival. The _rat_.

He was seriously going to kill Uo, the rat boy, or himself. He just couldn't figure out the order.

Which was why he was now stomping home, furious gaze in his eyes.

Oh, he was _so_ going to make the Yankee girl pay for this. Her cruel laughter was going to haunt him for years in his nightmares… The day when she'd lose and had to cut her hair and dye it pink and yellow would dawn someday. How she'd regret the day she had even suggested the idea of _him_ kissing _his cousin_.

_You will pay for this, Yankee, you will_… Kyo repeated to himself. The thought of his revenge upon Uo was the only thing that gave him strength right now. That was, because he still had task to complete: to kiss the rat. Yuck. Just the thought of his long-time rival made him shiver. And he'd have to kiss the rat _in public_, because Uo had ordered him to. She would die soon and painfully…

When Kyo arrived home, he was greeted with Shigure's enthusiastic blabbering and Touru's nervousness. Touru was worried of him, naturally, because she knew very well that the cousins could barely be in the same room for five seconds without starting a riot. The rat would surely beat him up for even trying to come near… let alone _kiss_. (Strangling. Yes, that would certainly be the best way to kill Uo.)

"My, Kyo-kun, you look so gloomy! Why's that?" Shigure asked with faked care. Kyo saw from his vicious smile that he knew about the bet. "Too far away from you dear Yuki-kun, hm?"

"Ahem, Shigure-san…" Touru tried, but Kyo saw from her smile that she was amused by the thought too. The naïve, innocent Touru. The world surely was changing these days.

"Drop dead, dog," Kyo hissed and leaped upstairs. Unfortunately the rat was home and was coming downstairs, and they met in the middle of the stairs. Yuki just glanced at him, obviously unaware of the bet, but it still made Kyo furious.

"_What are you staring at, you damn rat_?" he shouted, pushed past the rat and locked himself to his room. Own space. Now.

* * *

"What's with him?" Yuki asked when he got downstairs. Shigure was in the living room, drinking tea and reading newspaper by the table, Touru sitting on her knees and doing homework by the same table. Shigure snickered a bit. 

"Oh, he's probably having just some problems in his _love-life_."

"Shigure-san…" Touru sighed, but Yuki could read from her expression that they knew something that he didn't, and didn't want to discuss it. Yuki chose to ignore this and the cat overall and focus on the contests of the refrigerator.

After all, the cat's bad mood was no concern of his.

* * *

Later that evening Touru went to work, and Shigure muttered something about visiting Ayame's and disappeared soon after Touru. Kyo wanted to smash something, _badly_ (preferably Uo's head), because he knew very well why Shigure had chosen that evening to disappear. Stupid dog. Stupid Touru. Stupid rat… 

Kyo stayed mostly in his room that evening, but when his stomach started to beg for food, he had to surrender and go downstairs. He had hoped to not see the rat, but of course he just had to be in the kitchen. The boys glanced at each other – the other curiously and the other angrily. Kyo made his best to ignore the rat boy, snatched his milk and _onigiri_ and ran away. He could imagine the astonished look the rat shot at his back, but chose to ignore that as well.

_You damn rat, why are you always, _always_ getting into my way?_

The rest of the evening was spent in complete silence, as Kyo stayed in his room and the rat in his. The tearing silence was finally shattered when Shigure came home, happily shouting something random about two lovers, quarrels and romantic comedies. Kyo wanted to smash his head, too, but came to the conclusion that such a reaction would have earned too much interest from a certain rat-boy he wished to avoid. Shigure could keep his head this time.

When Kyo couldn't take the ticking of the clock and the happy voice of Shigure and the uninterested voice of the rat that came from downstairs, he fled to the roof to wait for Touru's return – although he wasn't sure did he really want to see her after her betrayal… That silly girl had agreed to the stupid Yankee's stupid bet…

He had been thinking all day about the bet and how he should be doing it – or should he do it at all. It just wasn't worth it. Heck, it might even be better to receive a beating from Uo because of breaking the promise than a beating from the rat for keeping it. It just wasn't worth it.

Still, his mind was nagging him about fair play – they had had a bet, he had lost, and this was his punishment. Had Uo lost, she would surely have dyed her hair red without blinking an eye. He would just be unfair to her if he didn't do his part.

Kyo shifted uncomfortably and placed his hands behind his head. He'd just have to tolerate it. It was a punishment, nothing more. He could handle it.

He stared at the stars and wondered, was he allowed to tell the rat beforehand about the bet or not. Either way, it would still be extremely humiliating. (Hanging. Yes, he would kill Uo by hanging her.)

Luckily there was no deadline – he wasn't in a hurry. Besides, he somehow had a feeling that it would take _some time_ to approach the rat. The stupid rat was always cautious, left never an opening, even when he was asleep. The rat even punched him if he was standing near – one meter was the rat boy's limit. Uo had to be laughing her lungs out right this moment... How the heck was he supposed to do his part if there was no way to get _near_ the boy?

"Come down, you dumb cat."

Kyo almost jumped up. The very rat boy he had been thinking about had climbed up the ladder and was peeking over the edge of the rooftop. His leer was uninterested and held no emotions in it.

"What do you want?" Kyo grumbled. The rat rolled his eyes.

"Honda-san just got back. She's serving supper right now."

"I'm not hungry."

"And I'm not your personal messenger. Come down and tell her that yourself."

Kyo was fighting the urge to kick the stupid rat down right now, and thus said nothing to the rat's statement. The rat shrugged.

"Have it your way." He disappeared, and Kyo heard a small thump as the boy landed. He punched the roof and made a hole in it – and almost immediately Shigure's melodramatic whining was filling the air: "Oh, my beautiful house! My darling, lovely house! Kyo-kun, you have to pay this one yourself! I can't be repairing this darling house all the time with my non-existent savings!"

_Lying mutt. He_'_s the richest of this stupid family._

He ignored the cries of Shigure and waited until the others had gone to bed. After that he finally dared to sneak into his own room, pleasantly sure that he was able to avoid the rat for once.

* * *

When Kyo woke up next morning, he was having trouble remembering the real world. As he ate his breakfast, something told him that he had to do something horrible, but couldn't remember what. He didn't have to muse that long, though. He remembered it the second he saw his cousin stumbling down the stairs. 

_Holy… I_'_m so going to kill Uo._

The blood-filled thoughts of Uo disappeared (Stabbing. He would stab Uo to death) as he watched the rat eat breakfast, still half-asleep. Maybe he could do this after all. Maybe, if he just made Touru look this way and then kissed the stupid, damned rat he'd get away with it right now—

"Good morning, children! Kyo-kun, are you awake at all? You're pouring the juice onto the table." Shigure's wicked grin was too much for him. Kyo slammed the _onigiri_ balls back the plate and ran away.

Something told Kyo too that Shigure was going to make the bet as hard as he could – and enjoy every second on the way.

* * *

"Do I really have to do it in public?" 

Uo was surprised when the orange-headed boy asked that, in almost pleadingly-like manner, but felt no pity.

"That was one of the conditions. Kiss the first person that enters the classroom _in__ public_," she emphasized. Kyo frowned.

"_You-are-the-most-cruel-person­-I-have-ever-known_," the boy hissed slowly. Uo laughed.

"You don't mean that. I'm a very nice person."

"Not right now."

"No, not right now. But you know, every person has their dark moments." She tilted her head a bit left and smiled. "So, you've finally decided to act like a man and accept your punishment?"

"I guess I don't have any options," Kyo grimaced. Uo laughed again.

"No," she said sternly.

"Thought so."

"Finally learning my character, are you?"

"Feh. I learned ages ago that you're not worth of trusting. I just happen to forget that fact a lot."

"Shut up and hurry up with the bet. I want to see the Prince's face when you lock your lips with him."

"Could you keep your voice down?" Kyo hissed hastily. Uo grinned, but decided that maybe it was the time to really be quiet. Kyon-Kyon was seemingly at his limit of insults.

"Okay, okay." She shrugged. "Just do your part. I'm eager to see how he'll react."

"I'm not," Kyo muttered. Uo just grinned viciously.

* * *

Stupid Yankee. So he really did have to do it in front of a crowd. (Poisoning. One day, he'd put some arsenic in her drink and…) Kyo could almost feel the imagined bruises and broken bones he would really have the day he'd kiss his cousin. Not only would the rat beat him up, so would the fan club of his. In addition, so would Haru if he heard of the bet. 

_Maybe I should start making the reservations for my grave place_, Kyo thought darkly. Then he sighed, looked up to the blackboard (which was filled with the teacher's incomprehensible writing) and then again to his notes. This was a situation he just couldn't win in. Either way, he would be the one that lost. So…

_Behold, the fan-clubbers of Prince Souma_, he boasted in his mind, _your precious Yuki will be defiled by his own cousin! Ha ha ha!_

… if you can't beat the enemy, join 'em. Or something like that.

* * *

TBC

* * *


	2. About the Prince

**A/N:** Thanks to all of you who have read, alerted or put this story to your favourites! Especially I would like to thank those who reviewed the first chapter; you made me feel like finishing the second chapter faster. ;) Grammatical corrections are still greatly appreciated, so if you note any mistakes, please tell me! Without further talk, I present you:**  
**

* * *

_**Of Bets and Butterflies**_

_by eishi © 2007 _

* * *

Chapter Two: About the Prince

During the next two days it came quite clear that approaching the Target (Kyo refused to use the rat boy's real name) was impossible, or at least very hard. He was always surrounded by his fan club, and if not, by Touru or his other friends. The moments when he was alone were sparse, and Kyo was pretty sure that he wouldn't be able to accomplish his mission on those moments. He knew it wasn't that wiser to wait for a moment to the Target to be alone, as the rumours of their _kiss_ (the thought made Kyo shiver) would reach the whole school in matter of minutes, but somehow it felt better to think that there wouldn't be so many first-hand witnesses that way. The point was that someone would see them anyway, but Kyo could at least decide, how many _some ones_ there would be.

And the less the better. Even if it didn't matter to anyone else.

The biggest problem, however, was that he couldn't get close enough the Target to… (Kyo shivered) _kiss_ him.

_I'm never going to use that verb again. From now on, it's just going to be 'to k him'_, Kyo quickly decided in his mind to not corrupt the whole idea of kissing by his horrible mental images.

Anyway, to k the Target he had to get close. And how was he supposed to get close, if the Target had the reflexes of a… rat? The only occasion they were close together was when they were fighting, and one couldn't call that very romantic situation.

Why on earth should he care about the place and the romantic nature of the occasion, he had no idea – but somehow it gave professionalism and shield to his "mission". If Souma Kyo did something, he usually did it properly, put his heart and soul into it. And to pretend to be actually interested doing his "mission" well meant that he could avoid _the k_ for a long time under the cover of "preparations".

_I can be so smart sometimes_, Kyo thought, satisfied with himself. _Too bad there's no one to see my best moments._

"Wake up, you dumb cat." Kyo was pulled back to the real world rather rudely. The Target was standing in front of his desk and staring right at him. Touru was on the left side of the Target and looking slightly worried. The arrogant look on the rat boy's face made Kyo snap immediately.

"What do you want, stupid rat?"

"Honda-san has been calling you for five minutes. And stop giving me that look," Target snorted. "The lesson ended ten minutes ago. Whatever you were daydreaming about, stop doing that. You made Honda-san worry over nothing."

"_Stop telling me what to do and wh_—!"

"Now, now, Kyon-Kyon, do you really want to make Touru upset?" Uo's chilly voice came behind him. Kyo knew very well that tone (that horrible, freezing tone), closed his mouth at once and began to pout. Stupid Yankee just had to ruin his one and only fun.

"If you're finished with your stupidity, how about moving your legs?" Target scoffed. Kyo raised his eyebrows.

"Yes, Kyo-kun, th-that's what I came to tell you!" Touru said happily. "The lessons are over for today, so are you coming home with us?"

"Whatever," Kyo grunted. Hanajima gave him a warning look, so he just took his bag and followed the others. Although he hated to admit that the Target was right, he should stop daydreaming and began paying attention. He had no memories of the last lesson; he had been minding his own business the whole time. No wonder his grades were bad.

The walk home was quiet: Touru was occasionally talking to Hanajima and Uo, made a couple of remarks to the Target, too, but gave just a worried glance to Kyo. Target didn't say anything, and nor did Kyo. The girls were soon the only ones talking, which didn't make the situation any less awkward.

Kyo snorted in his mind, ignored the others and began to stare the sky. It was prettily blue, with few clouds here and there, but Kyo had a feeling that it was going to rain in the evening. Sometimes he wished that his cat instincts wouldn't have worked so well – he could've done well without knowing when it was going to rain and when it wasn't.

He was right, unfortunately. They had just stepped into the living room, which was occupied by Shigure and Ayame (Kyo chose to ignore _that man_ for the sake of his nerves), when the first raindrops fell down and made Kyo feel even worse. Touru blabbered something about making lunch and disappeared into the kitchen. The Target was surrounded by the two most lunatic persons in the world, and Kyo had a nice chance to slip into his room and escape those two.

_If there really is a god, he has to have no sense of justice. Just a sense of irony._

The rain was making Kyo feel uneasy, so he decided to take a nap before doing his homework. Although he hated the rain in all its forms, listening to its calm rhythm was something that he liked to do. He fell asleep almost instantly after settling to his bed and listening the raindrops fall.

* * *

The cat was hiding something. He was sure of it. He knew there was something wrong with the whole household. 

Shigure was constantly cracking jokes about the cat's love life and sometimes even jokes about his sexual orientation – and the worst part was that Honda-san was laughing at those.

_Honda-san laughing at Shigure's dirty jokes_. Yuki was sure he had to go to a therapist if it didn't stop soon. The last barrier of innocence had been broken, and suddenly the world seemed much more cruel place than it had been yesterday.

Then Ayame had come to visit. Yuki knew perfectly well that Ayame usually preferred to stay at his shop while Shigure visited him – not the other way round, and entirely because Yuki still loathed his brother so much that he had really hard time staying in the same room. Shigure had accepted that fact and rarely let Ayame come for a visit.

But now… now he was trapped between Ayame and Shigure, who were _both_ cracking bad jokes about the cat. And Honda-san, who was serving them tea, was _laughing_ at those.

Well, more like giggling, but still. Honda-san was _making fun of someone_.

_I better call my therapist_, Yuki thought sarcastically.

"Yuki-kuuun, could you go and fetch Kyon-Kyon for us?" Shigure asked with gleaming eyes.

"What?" Yuki groaned.

"He's missing the wonderful tea that Touru-kun made for us!"

_Yeah, sure. Like that's your only reason._

Yuki got up and hurried to the stairs. Even if it was for only a minute or so, this way he could escape his crazy brother for a while. And his crazy cousin, too. Sometimes he wondered why all the Souma family members were maniacs in one way or another. The craziest family in the history.

He pushed thoughts about his family aside as he noticed that he had reached the top of the stairs. Slowly and unwillingly he went and knocked on the cat's door. There was no answer, so he pushed the door open and immediately barked, rather rudely:

"Get down and drink your tea! You'll hurt Honda-san's feelings if you don't!"

Then he realised that his "friendly invitation" had gone to waste, since the cat was fast asleep. He stared at his cousin from the threshold for a while, unsure of what to do, until the noises of downstairs reached his brain and he decided to do as told, because the humiliation because of waking the cat wasn't as bad as humiliation of not waking him. He tiptoed next to the bed, still a bit worried about waking him, but then grabbed the cat's shoulders and gently shook him.

"Wake up, you. Honda-san has made tea for us."

The cat growled something Yuki couldn't understand and turned his head so that he was facing the darker side. Yuki sighed.

"Wake up. You stupid cat."

The cat groaned, but half-opened his eyes this time. Yuki frowned. "Get up. The tea will get cold."

"_Damgrth_…"

"What?" The cat had closed his eyes again, and Yuki was starting to lose his patience. What was wrong with the cat, anyway? Normally it was Yuki himself who had trouble waking up, not the ever-energetic cat. Yuki opened his mouth to shout the next command, but right then the sleepyhead moved and seemed to finally wake up. He sat up, and Yuki let his hands drop.

"About time, you stupid cat. Now get downstairs before Ayame decides to come see what's keeping us."

"_Damgr_…"

"Huh?"

Suddenly the cat was much closer to Yuki than he had been few seconds ago, and the lack of space between them made the alarming bells on Yuki's head ring. The cat's eyes were only half-open, but the red colour and the intensity of his eyes scared Yuki. For some reason he had lost the thought of how to move, and all he could do was wait and stare how the cat got closer… and closer… how very close their lips were…

"SHIT!"

The cat jumped backwards and hit his head on the wall. Yuki crawled away from the bed as fast as he could and stopped at the door. They were both shaking, looking at each other, and both wondering the same thing:

_What on earth did just happen?_

"Tea."

"What?" The cat's eyes were now completely open and the shade of red was much colder than it had been moment ago. Yuki struggled to find his voice again.

"Tea. That's what I came to tell you." His breathing was finally calming down. "Honda-san made tea for us."

"Oh. Okay." The cat was rubbing his head and didn't seem to know where to look. "I… uh, I'll be down in a minute."

"Ye-yeah…" Yuki swallowed. "Yeah. I'll go tell them."

He escaped from the room and almost ran back to the living room. Shigure and Ayame looked curiously at him when he entered.

"What took you so long, Yuki-kun?" Shigure asked. Yuki shrugged, since he didn't have any witty answer, and took his place. Ayame grinned at him.

"So where is our dear kitty? Weren't you—"

"He's coming."

"Are you sure? Maybe you should go check."

"He was sleeping. I woke him up. Now he's coming. Go check yourself if you don't believe me." He knew he was sounding defensive, but couldn't help but let the words come. The confusing situation was playing itself in his head and he still wasn't sure what had happened… and what _could have_ happened.

_I need a therapist. Now_, Yuki vaguely thought before quickly thanking for the tea and disappearing from the room just before the cat entered it.

* * *

Kyo was pretty sure he was slowly becoming mad. Not only had he dreamt about kissing the Target, he had actually tried to kis… _to_ _k_ the rat when he had woken up. Stupid rat just had had to be there, hadn't he? When Kyo had woken up, the first thing he had seen had been _his_ eyes – the pale, lilac eyes, and he had thought he was still dreaming. That was _the only reason_ why he had tried to k the Target, even without any audience: he had figured that his dream would work as practise. 

Then he had started to think. Noises coming from downstairs. The smell of plants in the rat's hands. The drumming of the rain. And suddenly everything had been too clear – he had tried to k the Target in reality. _Not_ in his dream.

His only hope was that the Target wouldn't even bother to think about that strange awakening. He just hoped that the Target was that cold towards him…

Then again, that thought made him feel oddly empty inside.

_I'm really, truly, honestly becoming mad_, Kyo thought and let out a sigh. He looked at the clock ticking on his table: seven p.m. _I've been sleeping for two hours._

He finally jumped to his feet, stretched and went downstairs. He saw a glimpse of Target's shirt before the boy disappeared from the living room, and Kyo could fully understand: Ayame was _still_ there.

"Kyon-Kyon! What took you so long?"

"Not your business," Kyo snapped and sat down. He realised too late that it had been the wrong answer, since Ayame and Shigure exchanged knowing looks. _Oh no. Oh no. They couldn't be thinking that…_

"Here's your tea, Kyo-kun!" Touru smiled as she poured the liquid into his cup. "I hope Yuki-kun wasn't too rude when he woke you up. You were sleeping, right?"

"Yeah. I was."

Touru nodded, still a huge smile plastered on her face and turned to pour more tea for the perverted pair. Shigure grinned mischievously and leant theatrically onto the table.

"Oh, don't worry, Touru-kun. Yuki-kun can be very gentle when he wants to."

Ayame and Touru both burst into laughter, which made Kyo's hair stand to its end – the sight of Touru laughing at Shigure's pervert jokes was too much for him. Shigure he could endure, Ayame barely but still, but Touru…

"Going somewhere, Kyon-Kyon?"

"To do homework." He had slammed the cup onto the table and was now standing at the door. "I have some better things to do than listen to your stupid jokes. And for your record, all he did _was_ wake me up."

Then he stomped up the stairs and left the furiously laughing trio after him.

* * *

The visit of Ayame wasn't as short as usual, and even though Kyo had already known that he would stay as long as he could to torture them all (well, except for Shigure, who was actually enjoying the snake's company), Kyo had hoped to not see Ayame on breakfast the next morning. Kyo wasn't the only one who was outraged because of Ayame: the Target who usually was rather sleepy in the mornings was fully awake and constantly complaining about his brother's unwanted company. Ayame only took this as a challenge to prove "his unyielding brotherly love towards his shy younger sibling" and kept talking melodramatically about the coldness of the family and the poor situation of the poorer families of the poorest countries "who do not even have the slightest change to learn to know the full meaning of the word 'love'". 

Kyo managed not to spill his milk while hiding a furious laughter that was about to erupt. The Target gave him a funny look, and Kyo quickly hid his amusement behind his usual "I-couldn't-care-less"-mask. As much as he hated his cousin Ayame, he had to admit that sometimes, on right occasions, on right time, Ayame _could_ be funny. For a second.

"Honda-san, we're leaving." The Target had stood up and was angrily holding his bag. Touru looked confused and began to stammer:

"Bu-but, Yuki-kun, why? Th-the school doesn't—"

"We're leaving," the rat boy repeated, grabbed Touru by hand and fled from the room. Ayame called after them:

"Have a good day, dear brother! And oh, Touru-kun, please make sure to keep him away from cats, you know how much he hates those as mice themselves…"

Shigure snickered from Ayame's left, and Kyo decided that it was time to take his leave, too. He got out of the house quickly, but not quick enough to escape Shigure's obscene comment: "Be a good boy, Kyo-kun! Just remember that Yuki-kun tends to be forceful! …while fighting."

Ayame and Shigure cracked into laughter, and Kyo had to use his every inch of self-control to not tear the house apart. _It's just the stupid dog. You know his sense of humour. It's nothing._

The Target and Touru had left a couple of minutes earlier, but he managed to catch them on the way. Touru was nervously blabbering something about the weather and Target's "secret base" (it wasn't much of a secret, if everyone in the family knew what and where it was…) when Kyo approached them.

"Kyo-kun! You're walking with us?"

"Sure."

Nervous silence lingered on a while, until Touru decided to fill the gap again and began to chat something that went unnoticed by Kyo. He was looking at the rat from the corner of his eye and wondering, should he try _the k_ today at lunch break.

"What are you staring at, stupid cat?"

Perhaps another time. The Target was _not_ in a good mood.

Kyo turned his gaze away, and Touru – who had been cut in for a minute – resumed her sentence. They reached the school gates, and Touru spotted Hanajima and Uo somewhere in the crowd. She waved at them and took a step forward. This action left Kyo and the Target standing next to each other, nothing between them. Kyo realised immediately that now there was nothing to save him. The Target needed to take out his anger—

"Stop staring at me, you damn cat!"

— and Kyo would have to serve as a punching bag.

"I wasn't staring at you," he retorted. "Stop being so paranoid."

"Who's being paranoid?" The Target was now almost shouting. "I know there's something going on behind my back! And somehow, I don't know, it's got to be related to you!"

"Why is everything automatically _my fault_?" Kyo shouted back, his self-control shattered long ago. "It's always my fault! Just blame the cat, will you! Always me! Would you sometimes look in the mirror?"

"I don't need a mirror to know that you're standing behind me!"

"_What's that supposed to mean?_"

"It means that you're constantly harassing me!"

"I'm not!"

"Yes, you are!"

Someone from Kyo's behind said loudly: "Hey, the Gay Cousins are fighting again!" This, if none else, made Kyo lose his temper completely. He threw a punch to Target's face, which the other avoided and aimed a kick to his stomach. Suddenly there was no school yard anymore in Kyo's mind, no noises except the huffs and slams they were sharing and no one else but the Target in his eyes. The blows and the cold look in the lilac eyes were everything in his mind right now, there was no place for anything else—

"_Stop that_! Kyo-kun! Yuki-kun! Please stop!"

"Knock it off, boys!" Uo was suddenly in between them. "RIGHT NOW!"

They lowered their arms at the same time and stared at each other, ignoring Uo. To hell with the bet. To hell with everything. If this was their only way to communicate, then how on earth would there ever be even a slight chance to get _close_ to him?

"Fine!" Kyo spat. "If that's what you want, then I'm not going to be anywhere near you from now on! _Is that fine by you_?"

"That's excellent!" Target scoffed. "Finally you get the point! That's going to solve my all problems!"

"Go to hell!" Kyo turned, kicked his bag away and ran. He ran from the yard to the street, to the forest, all the way to home… Then he remembered that he couldn't go back, because Shigure and Ayame were still there, and stopped cold. He needed a place to hide. He just needed some place to be by himself. Just some place far away from his stupid life…

"What are doing here, Kyo?"

_Oh god. It can't be… please don't let that be…_

"Haru."

_God must hate me._

"Shouldn't you be at school?"

"Same question to you."

"Good point."

"Lost your way again, did you?"

"No, just my sense of time." Haru scratched his neck. "I need to talk to you."

_God must really, _really_ hate me._

* * *

TBC 


	3. About Romantic Comedies

**A/N:** This chapter wasn't planned to be this way, it just... happened. Suddenly I found myself writing about Haru running into Kyo and them having a discussion of the bet. Thanks a lot, my dear subconscious mind. (Sarcasm.) Anyway, I kind of liked these new scenes and decided to take them into the story. The only problem is that the subject mentioned in the title is going to appear in the very last scene, not in the beginning of the chapter like I had planned, but... er... yeah. Bear with me.

Onto the other topic: Thank you so much for your reviews and the interest you have shown towards this story! And, naturally, if you spot any mistakes in this chapter – or in the previous ones – please tell me. On with the show!

**Edit:** added the missing word that _Sayonara_ pointed out. :)

* * *

**_Of Bets And Butterflies_**

_eishi © 2007_

* * *

Chapter Three: About Romantic Comedies

When Kyo noticed that he was still alive after being with Haru for twenty-eight minutes, he also realised that Haru wasn't necessarily planning on killing him. They had walked on the deserted streets in silence, occasionally only broken by Haru's indescribable mumbling that apparently was meant for no one in particular. Kyo had been silent and followed Haru, who for once in his life seemed to know where he was going.

They headed for the main house of the Soumas, and the closer they got, the more uneasy Kyo felt. He hated that house – all the memories he had from there were negative, and the best thing that ever had happened to him there was when his adoptive father Kazuma had taken him away.

Haru lead him to a smaller house, the one that was left from the gate. Kyo followed, his back crouched, and wanted to disappear. Suddenly he was panicking. Akito. What if Akito found out? What if Akito already _knew_ about the bet? What if Akito…

"Come on in," Haru called, and Kyo's thoughts were pushed aside for a moment. He took off his shoes and slowly followed Haru upstairs, where Haru's room was. Haru hinted him to take a seat, and Kyo did.

"You're not going Black," he commented, quite unnecessarily. Haru smirked.

"There's no need to." Haru tapped his mattress absentmindedly. "Shigure-sensei told me about that… bet."

Kyo's hair stood to its end, like it always did when he was upset. _Stupid reflexes of a cat…_

"It's all that Yankee's fault! She made me do it! I swear, the next time I see her—"

"I don't mind."

"—I'll be sure to chop her head off… _What_?"

Haru leaned onto the wall. "It's okay. I really don't care."

Kyo stared at him for a moment. "Did you hit your head or something? The Haru I used to know would be banging my head to a wall right now."

"It's really okay, Kyo. I don't care about Yuki like that anymore."

"Now I'm pretty sure that you're either sick or a look-alike of Souma Hatsuharu."

Haru laughed dryly. "I stopped caring a long time ago. It doesn't really matter. He's just a friend."

"Really?" Kyo looked suspiciously at him, then let out a sigh. "Anyway, I hope you realise that it's just a stupid bet. It could've been anyone. It could've been my teacher!"

Haru laughed, and this time Kyo chuckled too. "Fortunately to you, it wasn't. You would be expelled for that."

"Yeah, and now I'm only going to end up in a hospital."

There was a brief silence, and then Haru stood up. He walked right to his table, picked something up from the paper piles and handed the object to Kyo. "Here."

Kyo took the picture and stared at it emotionlessly. It was an official picture of Haru's class, just as boring as the picture of his class was. Haru placed a finger on the picture, to its right side. "That girl. You know her?"

Kyo looked at the girl Haru had pointed at – she was pretty, rather ordinary looking with her black hair and bangs, shy eyes and insecure smile. Kyo shook his head. Then he looked again. "Wait. Are you telling me that you dumped Prince Charming because of her?"

Haru smiled again, now very absentmindedly. He was clearly thinking about her. "Yeah. That's all."

Kyo handed the picture back. "Of all the people, I would have thought that you were the one to belong to 'Prince Yuki fan club' until death."

"I'm still a member."

"I'll just pretend that I didn't hear that."

Haru sat to his bed again and lifted his legs so that he was sitting his legs crossed. "I just thought that I should tell you. I'm not going to stop you. In fact, I wish you luck."

"I'm going to need that," Kyo scowled. "Did… did Shigure tell—"

"He's not that stupid, you know. Of course he didn't tell Akito or Kagura. He only told me. And Ayame. And Hatori. And Momiji. And Kisa. And Hiro."

"Wow, I see that he's very trustworthy," Kyo snarled. "I'm going to kill him."

"There's no need. I already confronted him."

Kyo raised his eyebrows. "You're smarter than you appear to be."

"Thanks."

"No problem." They smirked at each other. "Well, anyway, I think I better get—"

"Where would you go?" Haru's simple statement made Kyo realise that he actually didn't have any place to go right now – school had already started and it would just make things worse if he went there, and home was not an option as long as Ayame and Shigure were there _together_.

"You make me seem so pathetic." Haru chuckled, and on spur of the moment Kyo added: "He hates me now."

"I take it you were fighting again?" Kyo nodded as an answer, and to his surprise, Haru began to smile widely.

"You know, I used to stalk him for years. I know a lot of things about his habits, likes and dislikes and so on. Maybe I could help you."

"Really?"

_I take my words back. I have become the favourite of God._

* * *

That weekend was one of the most pleasant ones that Yuki could remember. That damn cat really kept his promise and stayed out of his way, stretching the concept so wide that Yuki didn't actually see the cat for 47 hours, 57 minutes and 29 seconds at all. The only occasion that they were forced to see each other was when Ayame was leaving and wanted to say brief goodbyes to them all – that had taken two minutes and four seconds. Those tiny 27 seconds involved all the times that he had seen the cat by glance, often only catching a glimpse of the other's back as the cat ran away from the room he entered. Yuki could have easily smiled. No Ayame to launch a gag-reflex. No cat to stalk him. All should have been well. 

All wasn't well. It should have been, but it wasn't. The worst thing was that Yuki knew exactly what was bothering him.

"Don't you think that the damn cat has been a bit quiet these days?" he finally asked Honda-san, when he couldn't keep his thoughts by himself any longer. It was Sunday afternoon, and by then Yuki hadn't seen the cat for those ominous 47 hours, 57 minutes and 29 seconds. Honda-san sighed.

"Yes, _I do_," Honda-san answered, a hint of annoyance in her ever-so-happy voice. "He hasn't said a word aloud in two days."

"What's with that damn cat?"

"Well, if I'm being honest, then I should say that the reason might be you."

"What?"

"Kyo-kun was really shocked after your fight on Friday. Even I haven't seen much of him after that."

"But that was just a normal fight! Nothing happened!"

Honda-san sighed and turned to chop the leeks. Yuki looked at them and realised: "So he's not coming for dinner?"

"Eh?"

"You wouldn't dare cook anything that has leeks in it if he was going to be at dinner."

Honda-san sighed. "He left me a note saying that he's going to spend the day training. He's not coming home before eight."

"What's with him, anyway?"

"Oh, Yuki-kun, why are you suddenly so interested in Kyo-kun's disappearance?" Shigure had somehow managed to slip in to the kitchen without being noticed. "Are you jealous?"

"_What_?" Yuki gaped at Shigure. "Okay, this is getting out of hand. Where _do_ those rude jokes about that damn cat come from?"

"My mouth, of course."

"You know what I mean, you idiot!"

Shigure and Honda-san exchanged a pitying look, which made Yuki even angrier. "Stop doing that! You're hiding something!"

"What Shigure-san was saying," Honda-san coughed, "was that Kyo-kun is with Hatsuharu-san. I think that they are training together."

"See? I told you'd become jealous!" Shigure clapped his hands together. "This is right out of my newest book! Have you suddenly come to realise that life without your dear Kyon-Kyon is much emptier than it used to be, Yuki-kun?"

"You're officially sick. And I didn't know that you had switched to writing gay romance novels."

"Switched? I have written those under a different pen name for ten years!"

Yuki felt suddenly sick. Very sick.

Shigure's absurd jokes and Honda-san's nervous, beforehand written lines didn't make any sense in Yuki's mind, but at least he had gotten rid of his horrible feeling that something was missing. He wondered why he had cared about the cat's whereabouts in the first place and did it really help that he knew now that the cat was with Haru.

_Therapist… I really need a therapist…_ Yuki thought as he wandered the stairs up, ignoring Shigure's unsuccessful joke about fighting, its fishy stances, masculine sweat and the gay-DNA it might trigger off. _The-ra-pist…_

* * *

The following day wasn't that pleasant anymore. The cat had returned and was sitting at the breakfast table as usual, but didn't look once at Yuki, not even by accident. He exchanged a few words with Honda-san and Shigure, but pretended that Yuki didn't exist. Yuki, who was pretty much still asleep at breakfast, didn't mind. 

Then it began to hit him. On the way to school the cat kept talking with Honda-san, but looked the other way if Yuki turned his head even a bit. Honda-san tried to make a conversation that involved them all, but it soon became clear it was either going to be her monologue or a choice to pick the partner for a dialogue. There was no third option.

At school the cat behaved like he always did – the only difference was that he turned down an invitation to a cards game, because Yuki was already in it. He turned away from Yuki every time they passed each other, and when they ate the lunch together (with Uotani-san and Hanajima-san), he kept looking stubbornly at his chopsticks instead of his friends.

Yuki soon became irritated. The cat disturbed him sometimes, but there was no need to act so childish. It had been just a regular fight! Just a normal fight!

After the last lesson Honda-san left with Uotani-san and Hanajima-san, as she had her job to attend to. The cat had sneaked from the classroom and was halfway the corridor, when Yuki managed to catch him. "Stupid cat! Come here!"

The cat stirred, but didn't stop. Yuki ran after him. "You damn cat! Stop avoiding me!"

"Why?" The cat had finally stopped and turned to face him. The look on the cat's face was half-amused, half-irritated. "This is what you wanted, right? I'm not getting into your way anymore, am I?"

_Damn cat. Was he this smart all the time?_

"Stop acting so childish. You're making Honda-san worry with your stupid demeanour."

"Every time I do something wrong, you always say that I'm making Touru worry over nothing." The cat tilted his head and smiled oddly. "Why use her as your defence, anyway?"

"That's beside the point."

"I don't think I've heard the point of this conversation at all."

"The point is, you're acting childish!"

"Oh, and you're not by yelling at me and telling me that I'm acting wrongly?"

"Don't you dare try to outwit me, when we both know that your intelligence couldn't possibly match mine!"

"Who's being childish _now_?"

"You!"

"Oh, and you're not?"

"Of course not! It's all your fault!"

"_You damn rat!_"

"_Stupid cat!_"

And then there were punches, kicks and attempts to strangle the other with bare hands. Their fight carried on for a long time considering the fact that usually their fights ended after twelve seconds, but neither one noticed this; they were fighting just because it was fun to fight.

After they both had tried to kill each other for four times, they stopped and stood there, breathing heavily. Yuki was the first one to talk.

"Don't make Honda-san worry anymore," he panted. The cat frowned at him. Yuki took his bag from the floor and left. The cat stood there for a long time before following. They walked home together, in absolute silence, constantly glaring at each other.

The next morning the cat shot few glares at him, and Yuki replied with a kick to leg under the table. The walk to school was filled with their trading of insults and Honda-san's laughing.

To put it shortly, everything was normal again. And it soothed Yuki's nerves to no end.

* * *

Kyo was somewhat relieved when the Target decided to act normally again and challenged him to a fight in the middle of the corridor. The weekend they had spent in complete silence had really torn at Kyo's nerves. Since it had became clear that the Target suspected something, Kyo had decided to stay away from him for a while – lo and behold, somehow it lead them to situation where it was the _Target_ who had been eager to neutralize things. Kyo didn't mind though. He was just glad that things were back to normal, since now he had better chances to finally accomplish his "mission". 

He had to admit, though, that the weekend he had spent avoiding the Target had been very educational. He had learned few things about the Target. A lot of things, in fact.

1. The Target did his homework at his room, but nothing more. His favourite place at the house was the kitchen.  
2. Target moved very silently. One could never be quite sure of where he was at the moment.  
3. Target liked to watch the renewals of _Slam Dunk_, which were aired on Saturday and Sunday at 20.30. (Kyo was actually a bit angry that he had been forced to miss episodes 58 and 59.)  
4. Target drank tea with Touru sharply at seven o'clock.  
5. Target had developed a tactic to avoid Shigure, and to Kyo's astonishment, it seemed to work. Whenever Shigure was _not_ carrying a book in his hands, Target fled from the room. When he had a book in his hands, it meant that he was busy looking for background information. When he didn't have a book, it meant that he was bored and came to chat with Touru to the kitchen, to the living room, or where ever she was. (The dog seemed to be quite dependent on her, in fact…)

Kyo wanted to hum just because he was in such a good mood. He was getting closer. He was. _Just you wait, Yankee. You're not blinking your eyes for decades when I finally take action!_

Not only had he learned a few things about the Target by himself, but also Haru had proven to be a very useful source of information. The boy was practically a walking handbook to solve the mysteries of Souma Yuki. Haru had explained to Kyo why the rat boy didn't like milk (he had once opened a carton of milk that contained a cockroach), why he hated to talk with strangers (effects of being tortured by Akito for years and being harassed by dirty old men because of looking "too cute" at younger age) and why he perpetually carried a very old-looking, stained _Totoro_-notebook with him (the one and only gift from his brother Ayame from his childhood). Kyo was learning. He was really getting ready for his "mission".

There were still few steps to take on his way to k the Target, however. Kyo had firstly declined Haru's suggestion about the next step, but changed his mind and accepted it.

_I'm really losing my mind_, he thought wearily. _They will all laugh at me. The __action-driven__ Souma Kyo, watching…. yuck… romantic comedies._

"Is this really necessary?" Kyo complained at once when Haru stepped into the house. Haru placed his shoes neatly to the floor and smirked. _Uh oh. Not Black, please don't let it be Black…_

"Of course it is. Admit it, you're the most unromantic person in the world."

_Not Black. Something worse._

"I don't think that you're much better than me."

"I do. I have experience from expressing my affections to Yuki."

"Spare me from the details," Kyo gagged as he led Haru to the living room. He glanced around nervously. "And I still don't get why you insist on watching these stupid movies. They're not going to help me at all."

"They will, trust me."

And so began the longest hours of Kyo's whole life.

Since Haru had claimed that the movies would be useful, Kyo had grumpily agreed to take notes while watching. Even though they had picked a day that seemed the most convenient (Touru was at work, Target was at student council and Shigure was… somewhere, molesting his editor), Kyo felt extremely humiliated for the first twenty minutes. Haru, on the contrary, was wholly enjoying the air-headed movie with no functioning plot and immature dialogue. (Shigure would have been disgusted with the lines.) When the first scenes had passed and the characters had been introduced, Kyo started to feel much more comfortable and began to scribble some notes. Haru gave him a satisfied smile.

The first movie "focused on the most typical things in forming a relationship", as Haru put it. Kyo, on the other hand, simply thought that it had been a waste of time.

"I don't see how the details about asking someone out would be helpful to me," he rolled his eyes, when Haru had finished his rant about the movie. "Gee, Haru, did you miss something? It's about just _one kiss_. Nothing more."

"There will be a day when you'll thank me…"

Kyo rolled his eyes again to this statement, but let the subject drop. They proceeded to the second movie, which was a bit better than the first one. Now there was even an attempt to a plot, and the characters weren't making him consider suicide. And, actually, there _was_ some sense in the way the main character sent anonymous love letter to his secret crush and invited her to come to the park, if she wanted to know who was behind the letters…

"We're _hooome_! Kyon-Kyon, where are you?"

Kyo almost jumped out of his skin when he heard the voice. He and Haru looked at each other at the same time, fully knowing that there was no safe way out of this mess.

"Kyo-kun, do you have company?" The living room's door was pushed open, revealing Touru and Shigure, who was carrying the groceries' bag for her. Touru smiled, delighted, when she noticed Haru. "Hatsuharu-san! I didn't know you were coming for a visit!"

Haru nodded to them as a greeting, but Kyo couldn't look to their direction. _Any second now… Any moment right now…_

"What are you watching?" Shigure asked curiously, putting the bags on ground. Haru threw him the case and managed somehow to look as nonchalant as ever. Touru leaned closer to Shigure to read the title.

_One, two, three…_

Shigure burst out laughing, and Touru started to giggle uncontrollably. Haru still looked as bored as ever, but Kyo's face turned red.

"Kyo-kun, I didn't know you liked this kind of movies!" Shigure wiped a tear from the corner of his eye, and Touru added in between her giggles:

"It's nice to see you so concentrated on something, but don't you think that is a bit much?"

"Does this mean that you've become to accept the fact that you're the girl in that relationship?"

"I-AM-NOT-A-GIRL!" Kyo shouted as loudly as he could. "_He's_ the one who wears dresses! He's the one who looks like a girl! Have you seen those shirts? Or those eyelashes?"

Kyo's reaction only made Shigure and Touru laugh harder, and even Haru couldn't help but snicker. Kyo fisted his hands and only shouted louder: "_He's_ the one who acts like a girl!"

And, naturally, right then the said Souma Yuki decided to enter the bizarre situation. Shigure was the first one to recover.

"Oh, Yuki-kun! Welcome back!"

"What's going on here?" Target gave them all a quizzical look, and then settled his eyes on Shigure, who was handing him the cover. Silence fell into the room. After few moments he gave the case back to Shigure and shot a curious look at Haru and Kyo, but didn't say anything. "I'm going to do my homework. Do you need help with those math problems, Honda-san?"

"I almost forgot about those!" She gave the Target that particular smile, which usually made people do anything for her. "I'll be right up! I'll just sort these groceries—"

"No need to, Touru-kun, I can do that," Shigure interrupted. Touru's smile didn't fade, but she answered sternly:

"Thank you, Shigure-san, but it's no problem. I'd gladly do that myself." (If Shigure was to sort the groceries, she wouldn't be able to find anything next time she entered the kitchen.)

Kyo noticed that this was a good moment to get away and tried to sneak from the room, but Haru grabbed his sleeve and murmured that they were just getting started. Kyo whined in his mind. _God has abandoned me once again…_

"Oh, and Haru?" Target had walked to the stairs but turned around rather abruptly. "I assume that it was you who picked those movies."

"Yeah," Haru replied, still holding Kyo by his sleeve. Target smiled.

"You have a good taste. The one you're watching is one of my favourites."

Kyo could only blankly stare as the Target disappeared upstairs. Haru smirked. Slowly, Kyo turned to him.

"You knew that."

"Of course I did."

"Sneaky bastard."

"I'm only trying to help you."

"… you're still a sneaky bastard."

"No need to thank me."

* * *

TBC

* * *


	4. About Deadlines

**A/N: **In case you're wondering why this update took so much time compared to the other updates... I was busy handling something called "life outside Internet". (Shocking, isn't it?). Anyway, here's the newest chapter, hope you enjoy it. Please keep correcting the mistakes I make, because I possibly can't notice them all! And once again, thanks to all of you who are reading this fic, even if you don't review. (I know you're somewhere out there.)

* * *

_**Of Bets And Butterflies**_

_by eishi © 2007_

* * *

Chapter Four: About Deadlines

"Okay, Carrot-head," Uo said and violently slammed her palms on Kyo's desk, "what the heck have you done?"

It was Monday morning, and it had had a nice start with an English lesson and easy homework, sun shining in the cloudless sky and the rat boy being absent due to his student council obligations. Kyo had managed to almost forget about the humiliation of last Thursday that involved romantic comedies, a clueless Haru and the curious looks of the Target. He had also been almost able to ignore all Shigure's bad jokes that had ensued the episode. "Almost" being the keyword.

Because of the nice start to the day and the fact that Kyo hadn't done anything to upset his friends in a while, he was indignant to hear this accusation to say the least.

"I've done nothing!" he exclaimed, and was about to continue by saying that if there was nothing wrong with the world, it had to be because of the scary looks of the Yankee herself, but didn't have a change.

"Exactly!" she snapped. "You've done nothing! Remember anything that you should've been doing lately?"

"I—"

"The bet, you jerk!" She put her hands on her hips. "It's been two weeks since our agreement! Would you finally lift your sorry ass to _do _something?"

"Listen, Yankee, it's entirely up to me when and where I decide to fulfil your disgusting fantasies of incest!"

"No, it's not! It's your _punishment_, not your right to delight the Yaoi Fan Club of the school!"

"The school has _what_?"

"Don't pretend that you don't know."

"I'm not pretending. I really didn't know. And now I wish I never did learn that horrible truth."

"Sorry to burst your bubble, Carrot," she retorted. "Anyway, as I was saying, _do something about it_. It's been two weeks." She leant closer, a smirk forming to her lips. "Or are you chickening out?"

Kyo jumped to his feet. "Of course not! Just you wait!"

"On the contrary, I'm not eager to wait," she replied. "If you're not backing out, then hurry it up. I can't wait to see the Prince's face."

Just because of that sentence, Kyo decided to wait for few more days. Getting on Uo's nerves was also one of his favourite pastime hobbies. Unfortunately for him, Uo had also realised that.

"And because you're a lazy bastard and won't do anything unless you're forced to, I think we'll have to set a deadline for you."

"Wait. A deadline?" Kyo fisted his hands. "Yankee, you're completely out of your mind! Don't even dare think that I would chicken out just be—"

"Looks like chickening out to me if you haven't been able to complete that one simple task in two weeks!" Uo snapped her fingers and continued: "Tomorrow. You have time until tomorrow. Better get started."

"_Tomorrow_?" He had no time to complain, though, because their teacher walked into the classroom and started their Math lesson. Kyo slumped to his chair and began to stare blankly into space. Tomorrow. His life would be over tomorrow. The Target would beat him into a pulp, and then the Prince fan club would come to finish him off. He wished to be buried to the backyard of Shigure's estate, the closest thing ever to be called home for him… Touru would bring a candle to his grave every anniversary…

_What the heck am I thinking?_ He shook his head violently and gained a few odd looks. _I'm not going to die of one kiss. It's-just-a-kiss!_

Because he was completely confused about teacher's explanations about parabolas and functions, he decided to skip the whole lesson and turned the last page of his notebook. Out of the four movies Haru had shown him, number two had actually proven to be "educational", as Haru called it. Kyo had decided that he would do the same thing as the main character of the movie: write an anonymous letter and invite the Target to the school rooftop.

Forty-five minutes later the page in front of him was still empty, the lesson had ended and he had no idea what the teacher had given for homework. Target gave him a curious look as Touru, Uo and Hanajima came over to his desk to ask him for lunch break. Kyo was almost on the verge of tears as they dragged him to the rooftop with them; he was now debating in his mind of which were more horrible, the demanding eyes of the Yankee or the odd gaze Target kept giving him.

Even though Uo was clearly staring at him the whole time, he couldn't bring himself to do anything that day. He just couldn't. It would've been so easy just to grab the Target by shoulders on the only possible moment – he left an opening when he ate – and there, his "mission" would've complete, but he just couldn't. It seemed too easy after all the preparations he had gone through – especially with the "romantic comedies"-part. He wouldn't give in to Uo that easily.

That night the Souma household was surprisingly quiet: Shigure was mainly doing the talking by cracking his stupid jokes, and Touru was politely commenting those. Target was silent. Kyo was silent. Shigure and Touru glanced at each other, then to the mute couple and then again to each other. Shigure launched more jokes, and Touru laughed.

Later that evening Touru went to work, and Shigure went to visit Hatori. Any other day Kyo would've jumped for joy as the house was finally (almost) empty, but that night he truly wished that Shigure would come back as soon as he could. He locked himself to his room and hoped that that action could keep his panic away, but this only made it worse: he was constantly wondering where the Target was and what he was doing. When he couldn't stand his own thoughts anymore, had done all his homework and all his not-so-urgent essays too, he realised that he was acting ridiculous and went downstairs in hope of spending couple of Target-free moments in front of a television.

"What do you want, dumb cat?"

Wrong move. The rat boy was watching TV. Kyo was too tired to seek for a new place – and besides, the Target would be in his mind anyway.

"Nothing," he murmured and sat down. The rat frowned and snatched the remote control, as if to ensure that he'd be the one to make the channel choices. Kyo couldn't have cared less.

Minutes ticked by, and so did the programme they were watching – Kyo had no idea what he was watching, and even if he did, he would've forgotten the names of the characters by now. The lines slipped from him, the characters were messed up in his head and began to merge to look as one… He felt so sleepy…

"Hey cat."

"What?" he snapped, suddenly awake. Target hadn't moved his head a bit and was still staring the screen. There was a brief silence, and then Target said:

"Haru left this. Return it to him tomorrow." A movie case was thrown to Kyo's lap; it was one of those movies Haru had brought with him. Kyo snorted.

"Why me? You're likely to run into him faster than me."

"Oh? I just thought that since you two are so close, you'd be able to return that to your boyfriend."

_The hell? What's going on here?_

"Since WHEN has he been my boyfriend?"

"That's my line," Target said calmly, his voice dripping poison. Kyo shook his head.

"I don't know what you've been smoking, but the last time I checked, Haru was straight."

"The last time _I_ checked, he was head over heels with me."

"That was ages ago!"

"So now 'last week' has the meaning of 'ages ago'?"

"Such a blow to your big ego, rat, but your true love has left you," Kyo said and rolled his eyes. "And whatever. I'll take that."

He snatched the movie from Target's hands (Target had somehow taken it back between their insults) and ran upstairs. Target shouted after him:

"Have fun with _your_ one and true love!"

The bewilderment was so stunning that it prevented Kyo from making a new hole to the floor. What on earth was bugging the Target? He really made no sense. One moment he was all happy and acting civil even towards his worst enemy (also known as Souma Kyo), the other he was pairing people up with no proof. Was it because Touru was away? Because he had missed his lunch? Because Shigure had been a jerk once again?

_Whatever_, Kyo repeated in his mind. _Tomorrow I'll just complete the mission, and then it's over. No need to get jumpy because of someone's random mood swings._

Even if Kyo tried to assure himself, there was a nagging voice inside his head, repeating one word: _warning, warning, warning_… He ignored his thoughts, went to his room and tried to stay calm. Tomorrow. Tomorrow… and then it would be over.

* * *

"I bet five hundred yen that he can't do it." 

"Five hundred and fifty that he does, but only after the last lesson."

"Four hundred that he tries to, but the Prince kicks his ass before he can!"

Somehow the news about Kyo's "mission" had reached the whole school by the second lesson, and now the corridors were populated with people who were following Kyo _and_ the Target around and making their own bets all the time. Kyo felt miserable, but Uo, the reason for that mess in the first place, was just laughing her lungs out.

"You better do it, Carrot! I've already bet that you can!"

"I feel so much better now that I know you trust me," Kyo snarled. "Go to hell!"

It was a miracle if the Target didn't know already. If he did, he would probably send Kyo flying if he dared to come nearer than five meters.

As the lunch break draw near, Kyo felt panic overtake him. He had put the note into the Target's locker earlier and was sure that the rat boy had read it, but what if didn't come to the rooftop? What if he _knew_…?

"Good luck, Kyo-kun!" Touru giggled, when the Bell of Freedom (as the students called it) marked the beginning of the lunch break. "I know you can do it!"

"Thanks, Touru," he said silently, fully knowing that Touru would encourage him to do anything. Even eating snakes. The girl couldn't possibly comprehend the meaning of the word "dislike"… There just were some things Kyo wasn't willing to do, or even talk about. Unfortunately kissing his cousin was on top of his list. He didn't even want to think about that.

Gathering all his courage, Kyo slipped out of the classroom and slipped through the crowd. Moving in a crowd that especially wanted to see him wasn't very easy, particularly with orange hair, but somehow he managed to get to the rooftop without any followers. Or at least he hoped so.

The Target was already there; he stood by the bench, his lunch carefully arranged on it. Kyo gulped, and glanced around: he saw no one, but was all the same sure that there was audience, hidden in the shadows.

_The Yaoi Fan Club members are going to jump for joy_, he thought bitterly. Then he straightened his back, brushed his bangs away from his eyes and started to walk towards the Target._ I'm not going to die for that. I'm not…_

The Target turned around when he heard the footsteps, and in seconds the look in his face changed from hopeful to angry. Kyo knew exactly what he would say.

"What are you doing here, dumb cat?"

Bingo. From word to word. Kyo opened his mouth to say the speech he had planned, but nothing came out. Target furrowed his brows, but surprisingly, stayed quiet. Gathering every inch of his courage he had, Kyo uttered: "For once in your life, try not to hit me."

A very astonished look spread on Target's face, as Kyo took forward the three steps that separated them and grabbed his shoulders very gently. Target stiffed, but didn't push him away. Kyo didn't dare to look his cousin in the eye as he leaned forward as quickly as he could and hastily forced their lips together.

First there was an absolute emptiness in his head. Then one adjective found its way to Kyo's head: _soft_. At that moment everything about his cousin felt soft; his slender shoulders, his lips, those silky strands that were tickling Kyo's nose – even the fabric of his suit felt soft compared to Kyo's rough hands. It was weird – like the two absolute opposites forced together…

Something touched slightly Kyo's back, and he opened his eyes wide. _Away. Away. Panic. Panic. Away!_

Kyo stumbled away from his cousin, still unable to look at him. His face felt hot, and there was some strange sensation tingling in the back of his head. Numbly he lifted his head up and gazed at the Target, who was still standing in the very same posture, holding his hand in the air. Somehow the way his hand was placed looked like he was reaching out for Kyo.

Their eyes met. Kyo was heavily blushing, his breath irregular and his hands slightly trembling. Target looked very confused, and a blush was occupying his cheeks. The rat opened his mouth, and whispered with a very shaky voice:

"Why?"

Kyo had no time to answer. Suddenly the rooftop was filled with students, who were either hooraying or whistling, and Kyo was surrounded with people who all wanted to congratulate him or pat him on the back. Touru was on his left, beaming happily at him, Uo directly in front of him and laughing like there was no tomorrow. Hanajima was standing next to Yuki, apparently explaining—

_Panic. Panic._ Suddenly Kyo couldn't take it anymore: he screamed in frustration and escaped from the roof. Roughly he shoved people out of his way and simply ran, only panic filling his mind.

_My life is over. My life is over. Yuki is going to kill me. Yuki is going to kill me—_

He began to run away from school, away from the ground, away from the city… He just ran, letting his legs guide him, and ran and ran, until he was too tired to continue and collapsed to the street.

_He's going to despise me. He hates me now… He hates me…_

"Kyo?"

Kyo looked up wearily, idly wondering why he was never able to be alone when he wanted to. His adoptive father Kazuma was staring down at him worriedly, looking strangely big because of the perspective. Kyo sighed deeply.

"Kyo, is everything alright?"

Kyo wanted to tell him that everything was all right. That there was no reason to worry. That he was just tired. That there was no reason for his dear father to worry…

But instead, he remained silent and let Kazuma bend down and place a comforting hand to his shaking shoulder. Instead, he buried his head into his hands and began to weep. Instead, he let his anxiety show and let his father comfort him.

There were few things that even Souma Kyo couldn't keep inside, and an invincible mixture of too many unrecognizable feelings on one go was something that he just couldn't take. Kazuma stayed there and let him cry until no more tears came, and even after that they sat there, in the middle of the street in silence for a long time.

* * *

The first thing that reached Yuki's brain after the very absurd, possibly impossible scene was that his cousin hadn't wanted to do that – he had been forced to. Hanajima-san explained in her monotonous voice that it had been Kyo's punishment and had been earned in a game of cards, but after that Yuki's brain decided to shut down because of the information overload. He couldn't hear a thing that was said to him, not to mention the shocking questions from his fan club ("Please, Prince Yuki, tell us that you're not in love with him! Please tell us that you're completely straight!"). He was listening, but couldn't hear a single thing. 

Then he realised that maybe he should get going. Still not seeing or hearing anything, he walked away from the rooftop and noticed that he had ended up in the backyard of the school that was usually empty of students. After spotting a very outlying place beneath a tree he walked there, sat down and let all his thoughts run through his head. They appeared in a complete disorder, each thought leading him back and forth in the precious scene.

_Why did he do that?  
… he smelled a bit like cardamom.  
He didn't want to do that.  
Was I enjoying it?  
His touch was nothing like in our battles…  
I don't understand…  
Why am I feeling so numb?  
Why did he…?  
His lips are much softer than they appear to be.  
I don't understand…  
There was something else besides cardamom in his scent…  
His touch was so gentle.  
… was it… somehow… like tree leaves after rain?  
He must hate me.  
I really wanted him to touch me…  
I'm getting too poetic in my similes.  
Why did he do that?  
He hates me.  
Why did he do that?_

"Yu-Yuki-kun?"

"Honda-san." Yuki stood up and brushed invisible dirt from his shoulders – and then remembering that Kyo had touched them just a moment ago… "Yes?"

Honda-san was literally twiddling her thumbs. "I hope… I hope that you're not offended by that bet of Kyo-kun?"

"Thank you for asking, Honda-san, but I'm not." Yuki gave her an assuring smile, and even though it was faked, it seemed to calm Honda-san down. "I couldn't care less about that stupid cat."

"Yuki-kun—"

"I'm sorry, but I have a student council meeting in five minutes," Yuki continued. "I have to go."

"Well, oh, okay then…" Honda-san sighed. "Yuki-kun, I wish… I just wish that one day you'll be able to be friends. You should just give him a try, there's really much more in him than meets the eye—you really should let him…"

"I doubt that, Honda-san." Yuki forced a smirk on his lips. "I have already seen who – and what – he is, and I didn't like what I saw." He bowed. "If you'll excuse me…"

"Oh, that's right… Um… I'll see you in the class…"

Yuki walked past Honda-san and left her there, not feeling a little bit guilty for ignoring her, even lying to her about that student council. He just wanted to be alone at that moment. He really didn't need anyone right then.

* * *

The dinner was gravely silent that evening in the household of Souma Shigure. His younger cousins didn't say a word, and even dear Touru-kun preferred to stay quiet. That, naturally, didn't stop him from commenting the kiss his cousins had shared. It just was too good an opportunity to pass by. 

"So, Yuki-kun," he said briskly, "tell me, how was Kyo?"

"Shut it," Yuki replied. His voice was monotonous, like he had been repeating that same sentence the whole day. Shigure wasn't about to give up yet.

"I didn't mean to hurt you feelings, Yuki-kun! All I was asking was how did your dear cousin behave in the school today?"

"Shut it," Yuki said again. Shigure sighed.

"You don't have to be so defensive about it… We all know that there's a moment in every teenager's life when they must declare their attraction—"

"Shut it," Kyo and Yuki both said. Shigure sighed.

"You're no fun…"

"Will you ever shut up?" Kyo snapped. Shigure grinned.

"Only after I'm completely satisfied in some aspects of life."

"Stop being disgusting!"

"I only meant that when my curiosity is filled."

"Shut up, both of you," Yuki murmured. Touru-kun looked at each of them, nervous look on her face. Shigure didn't say a thing after that, but a huge grin was plastered on his face the whole time. When they had finished, Kyo and Yuki both disappeared upstairs, assumingly to their rooms. Shigure helped Touru-kun to wash the dishes, even though he knew that he was being more a nuisance than help.

"So, Touru-kun, tell me… What exactly happened today?"

Touru-kun sighed and shook her head. "The pictures are on your desk."

"Oh! So you remembered!"

"Of course I did, Shigure-san."

Shigure hurried to his room and picked up the envelope Touru-kun had left him. He went back to the kitchen after opening that and admiring the excellent pictures Touru-kun had taken.

"These are excellent, Touru-kun! Almost like a professional!"

Touru-kun giggled. "Thank you, Shigure-san, but they're really not that good…"

"Nonsense!" Shigure grinned as he found the best picture. "One could really believe that they are a real couple, and judging from these euphoric expressions—"

"Who says that we're a real couple?"

Shigure tried to hid the pictures from Kyo's piercing eyes, but in vain. Touru giggled. "Oh, Kyo-kun, Shigure-san is just joking—"

"Shigure?"

"Yes, Kyon-Kyon?"

"_What-are-you-holding-in-your-hands_?"

"These? Just some research material to my newest novel."

"Give me those!"

Kyo snatched the pictures easily from Shigure, as Shigure had never in his life practised material arts moves, and looked at the pictures, horrified look on his face.

There was a brief silence. Shigure and Touru looked at Kyo, who was squeezing the pictures in his shaking hands.

"YOU SICK OLD MAN!"

"They're perfect material for my newest—"

"YOU SICK, OLD, LYING MUTT—" Kyo tore every picture to pieces and tossed them fiercely into the air. Several shots of noses, lips and hands landed gracefully onto the floor. "HOW SICK CAN YOU GET?"

"You haven't apparently seen Haa-san at his best," Shigure mumbled and was ignored by Kyo, who had already stormed off. "When he gets evil ideas, you don't want to even be in the same room with him…"

Touru sighed and started to gather the pieces from the ground. There was a rumble heard from upstairs, and then Yuki shouted from distance:

"_Be glad that the damn cat already destroyed the pictures, otherwise you'd be dog food right now!_"

Shigure sighed and was about the comment how ironical it would be for a dog to end up as dog food, but Touru-kun interrupted his thoughts:

"Shigure-san?"

"Yes?"

"You put the film safe, didn't you?"

"Of course I did." He grinned. "You want to make a little visit to the mall to develop the film?"

Touru-kun smiled widely. "Sure!"

* * *

TBC

* * *


	5. About Trash Fan Fiction

**A/N:** ... just when I thought that I would finally have time to write, something called "reality" comes and takes it away from me. Yay. Anyway, this is the newest chapter, hope you still have the energy to read it and comment and point out my mistakes. :) If you have no clue what this chapter is about, it's okay, because I don't either. Once again, thanks to all of you, regardless of have you alerted this story, favourited it, reviewed it or just read it! And no, I won't get tired of saying that, because each time it's still just as true as the last time! ;)

**Edit:** Corrected some minor spelling mistakes and changed the one line that caused confusion about human psychology and Yuki's mental age. (Thanks to Sayonara about that remark.) Nothing big, though.

* * *

**_Of Bets And Butterflies_**

_by eishi © 2007_

* * *

Chapter Five: About Trash Fan Fiction

He dreamt of a city milieu. The streets were almost empty, but the usual feeling of drowning into the crowd was still there. The dim light of the street lamps both confused and calmed him down, since the sky was clear blue and quite shiny. The pressing silhouettes of skyscrapers were all around him – he was surrounded by a futuristic and still absurdly rural city. The design of street lamps collided harshly with the general clothing style.

He was standing there and wondering what he was doing, in the middle of the street, his usual school uniform on. He looked around, only seeing the emptiness of streets and the black shadows the buildings cast on the ground. It felt cold, and just as he had noticed that, he realised that his breath was vaporizing. Small clouds of his breath floated everywhere, and it felt suddenly much colder than it had before.

He turned around again and again to see if there was someone to tell him what to do, but all the people passed by and didn't even turn to look at him. Everyone ignored him, and the usual feeling of worthlessness filled him again. He wished that someone would come and tell him what to do to wake up.

"What are you doing?" a familiar voice asked. He turned around and was startled to see his cousin, hands pocketed and the usual scowl on his face. He swallowed.

"I'm lost," he muttered. "I don't know where I'm supposed to go."

"The feeling's mutual, you rat-faced idiot," his cousin scoffed. He looked at the ground and didn't dare say anything. The small puffs filled the air and were abnormally loud.

"We should go," his cousin said finally. He looked up.

"I guess."

"Are you coming or what?"

They started to walk slowly down the prom, occasionally gazing at each other. People passed by, and they walked very slowly. The air was filled with snowflakes and it got colder and colder with each step.

"Here," his cousin finally said. He was stunned when the blanket was placed on his shoulders. They stopped.

"Kyo," he silently said, "why are you here?"

"I don't know," the other answered. "Do you?"

"No," he murmured. "I don't."

They looked at each other, both eagerly waiting and still not knowing what they were waiting for. Kyo broke the silence eventually:

"Are you still cold?"

"No," he answered. Kyo smirked and put his arms lazily around the other.

"Liar." He shivered when Kyo started to stroke his hair. "Why can't you ever say the truth aloud?"

"I can," he protested, "but no one will believe me."

"I will."

"You won't," he murmured. "No one will."

Kyo looked at him for a moment, strange look in his blood-red eyes. Gently, almost timidly, he leant down and kissed the other.

The cold meant nothing anymore. The small snowflakes that were falling down and tickling his nose meant nothing. The only thing he could concentrate on was that their lips were touching, that Kyo was so warm, that he was held in his protecting arms—

* * *

Souma Yuki woke up from his dream. He stared at the ceiling for a minute, then sat up in his bed and leant his head onto his knees. The dream was nothing new to him; he had had similar dreams many times before. 

He looked at the clock – it said 5:37 – and decided to get up. The effects of badly slept night tried to take over him as he got changed and brushed his hair. The whole house was still asleep when he went downstairs. Shigure's door was open, so he peeked in: Shigure had fallen asleep on his computer, and was still in the same clothes as yesterday. The notes, research material and the manuscripts that were full of red marks were all lying on the floor. Poor Honda-san would have to clean up the dog's room tonight.

Yuki went to kitchen and was about to make breakfast, then decided against it. He would just burn the house, since he had no idea how the rice cooker worked or how to make tea water. Instead he went to the dining room and sat down.

He didn't have to wait long: fifteen minutes after he had woken up Honda-san tiptoed downstairs. She was very surprised to see him wide-awake at this hour.

"Good morning, Yuki-kun!" she said a bit hesitantly. "I'll go make breakfast right away!"

"Thank you, Honda-san," Yuki said politely. Honda-san disappeared into the kitchen and came back approximately five minutes later with complete setting of food. It never ceased to amaze Yuki how quickly and well Honda-san managed to make everything that involved food.

The cat stomped downstairs just as they had started the breakfast. He seemed tired and barely focused on the food he was putting into his mouth. Yuki couldn't help but look at his cousin worriedly.

"Stop staring at me, you disgusting rat!"

Yuki lowered his gaze and didn't turn his head even a bit in the direction of Kyo again that morning.

* * *

Souma Yuki had five secrets, to be exact. First one was naturally his little habit to turn into a rat every time a girl hugged him. The second was that he was actually afraid of people. He hated talking with strangers, and he could endure it barely with his obligatory acquaintances. Talking with his friends was sometimes hard, too, but he had learnt little by little to open up and reveal his true views of the world. Honda-san had especially been a good teacher: she understood, and if she didn't, she was willing to listen and learn. 

The third secret was that he _didn't_, against the common knowledge, hate his brother Ayame. He still loathed some of the snake's habits and opinions, but the most important thing in their relationship was that they were there for each other – they knew that they were related by blood and therefore shared a much more thicker bond than most people. They both knew that, and when there was a time they needed each other, they could rely on the other. Blood truly was thicker than most people realised.

The fourth secret was that he had asthma and thus suffered from regular asthma attacks, which were also related to his panic disorder. Though, his fourth secret was actually commonly known in his family and also by some of his friends – but it still was a secret, unless the person was so close to him that it was necessary to tell what to do if he had an asthma attack.

His fifth and most harboured secret was that he had actually wanted to kiss his cousin Souma Kyo longer than he could remember. He had often wondered what it would feel like to curl up next to his hot-headed cousin, lean onto his strong frame and stay there as long as he could. His mind was often occupied by thoughts concerning Kyo's hair – what it would feel like? Would it be rough or as silky as it looked? –, Kyo's eyes – did they actually change colour depending on the boy's mood, or was it just his imagination? – and Kyo's lips… His strangely hard but still heavenly soft lips…

The fact that he wanted to kiss his cousin never affected his life, however. He knew that it was there, in the back of his head, and that it would sometimes appear in the most unpleasant moments: during the physical education classes (especially when Kyo was dripping with sweat), during the lunchtime (when Kyo placed the slices of _tofu_ in between his lips and held them there for a moment), during the English lessons (when Kyo was snoozing because of boredom), during their fights, both verbal and physical… He recognized the existence of that thought, but never let it overrun his emotions and visible behaviour. He knew that it was very strange to live with that kind of a thought – most people would have done something to it by now – but Souma Yuki wasn't like _most people_. It was there. He was able to live with it. End of story.

Well, at least he had been able to cope with that "secret lust" for relatively long time. That was, until that horrible Yankee decided to make his life twice as hard by sending Kyo to complete a very absurd mission. Now that Yuki knew why the cat had been acting so strangely last weeks, he also felt quite miserable. He remembered that time when he had gone to Kyo's room to wake him up – and how the cat had suddenly leant very close to him… And the time the cat had followed him around the whole day, pitifully trying to hide into the shadows… And the time when he had caught the cat staring at him one Biology lesson…

He hated to admit it, but he actually missed those days. He hadn't realised that he had actually started to _care_ about the cat's opinions and welfare; Before all that had interested him in his cousin was that one harboured thought of a kiss, and that was all. Now he was racking his brain and tried to figure out _why_ the cat was acting like he did – i.e., avoiding him and barely speaking with anyone. He was repeatedly drowsing on lessons, nothing but the moment when their lips met on his mind. The scene kept playing itself in his head and he couldn't get rid of it. It had been a lot easier when his dream of one shared kiss had been just a dream, not a fact from reality.

And the worst thing of all, naturally, was that everyone kept asking him how that kiss had affected him.

"Prince Yuki! Poor Yuki-kun, you must be disgusted with your cousin!"

"Souma-kun, Souma-kun! Don't hold grudge against him, it was just a bet!"

"Please, Yuki-kun, don't be that way! I hope that your precious lips have not been so defiled that you'll down my invitation!"

The first day at school after that incident was horrible. Every other student was concerned about him, but no one really seemed to care about his answers. Kyo was avoiding him, Honda-san was acting funnily by constantly smiling at him, Uotani-san was still unable to hold back her laughter every time she saw him, and Hanajima-san was just as boring as she was every day. Haru patted him on the back when they met at the corridor and said that "it" would end happily (Yuki honestly had no idea what Haru meant by "it"), and Momiji ran to him and hugged him so tightly that he couldn't breathe for a minute.

Everything just seemed so wrong. He wanted to scream out in frustration, like Kyo had done on the previous day. _Why won't they just leave me alone?_ he thought angrily.

All that he could've endured. He could've ignored the comments of people who really meant nothing to him, and he could've blocked out the looks and pats to his back. He could've done that, really. But then came the last straw – the Yaoi Fan Club.

"So, Yuki-kun! We saw you and Kyo-kun the other day," the president of the club grinned at him. He was surrounded by those crazy club members and had no choice but to listen to them. "We even got pictures of that!"

"You two look _soooo_ great together!" one of the girls chirped. "And Kyo-kun looked so handsome when he blushed!"

Honestly, Yuki had no idea what girls like them wanted from him – and why on earth were they referring to him and Kyo like they all were best friends with each others? He didn't recall giving them a permission to call him "Yuki-_kun_".

"Anyway," the president of the club coughed, "we have something we want to verify."

"Just one question, Yuki-kun!"

Yuki tried to remain calm. Fine, one question wouldn't be that hard to answer. He could always cook up some idiotic reply.

"So, Yuki-kun, we were just wondering… Have you two done it yet?"

Yuki was so stunned that he couldn't even blink. "What?"

"Oh, please, Yuki-kun! We've all seen it from the start!"

"So, just answer our question, if you please! How far have you two gone?"

Air. He needed air. Yuki pushed them aside and ran as fast as he could. _Is there a demon haunting these people?_ he thought vaguely as he ran down the stairs. _Where do people come up with these ideas?_

… The fact that he had wanted to kiss his cousin longer than he could remember didn't count. It was his own business what he wanted from his cousin and what he didn't! One person with messed up thoughts was enough for the world!

"They got you too?"

Yuki stopped cold when he heard the familiar voice. Kyo was in the front hall, leaning to the wall next to the lockers. A small playful smile on his lips made Yuki more confused than the fact that the cat had suddenly stopped avoiding him.

"I don't know what you mean," he replied coldly. Kyo snorted.

"That stupid Yaoi Fan Club. They stopped me earlier in the corridor."

Yuki couldn't say anything. His eyes had stopped functioning and were only focusing on Kyo's lips.

"So, what did you tell them?"

Yuki forced his head up to meet Kyo's eyes. "I didn't say anything. I ran away."

"Such an amazing answer. What do you think that they conclude about that action of yours?"

"Stop that," Yuki whispered. His eyes had locked themselves to Kyo's lips again. "Just… leave me alone, Kyo. Leave me alone."

He turned and ran away.

* * *

Kyo was feeling very odd all day. First, he had had a weird dream about him and the Target (or was there any need to call him that anymore?) that included the school rooftop, perverted Shigure with his camera and lots of kissing. Needless to say, he had been pretty upset to wake up from that dream. 

Second, people at school were divided into two parties: either they were really mad at him for doing such a thing to their beloved, precious, perfect Prince Yuki (Kyo was shocked to note that there were also many boys on that side) or they were congratulating him of the best prank the school history had ever known. Kyo couldn't decide should he laugh or cry at the stupidity of humankind.

Third, his friends were acting very strangely. Touru was constantly smiling, and when he had asked her about it, she had just plainly stated that "it was such a beautiful day". Uo burst into laughter every time she saw him, and Hanajima was smiling when she thought that no one noticed. Haru had come to him and told that his mission had gone wonderfully, to which Kyo had retorted with a kick and a threat to beat Haru to a pulp if he didn't stop smiling in that stupid, absentminded way. (He was clearly thinking about that girl of his again.) Momiji had also paid a visit to his classroom and blabbered on and on something nonsense about "the wonderful feeling of being loved" and "destined meeting because of the zodiac". Kyo had told him to get lost if he didn't want to lose his pretty-boy face.

Fourth, he couldn't stop thinking of the rat. First he had dumped it as the feeling of disgust, then he had remembered that state of confusion he had felt after _the k_… and now he couldn't figure out anymore. He really didn't know why he was bothered about such trivial things as the scent of his cousin (lavender, earth and plants) or the texture of his shirt (which _couldn't_ be the same as his own uniform – the difference was so radical). The thoughts spinning in his head were getting more and more irrational – what was the exact shade of Yuki's eyes? Was he actually taller than Yuki? – and the worst part of it was that he knew, he _knew_ he shouldn't be thinking those things.

_This whole thing'__s almost like out of Shigure's books_, he thought sarcastically at the Geography lesson. _Something irrevocable happens and the incident forces the main characters view each other in different light. And then… yaoi-fangirlism ensues. _He shivered at the thought.

He tried to ignore his thoughts and decided to act like it was the most natural thing in the world to kiss one's cousin and not be affected by it. He even tried to act civil towards the Yaoi Fan Club that approached him and asked, in uncertain terms, how far he had gone with his cousin. He didn't tell them to go to hell. Instead, he fled.

Of course he just had to run into Yuki after all the avoidance he had gone through. And of course Yuki just had to be looking so down. And _of course_ he just had to open his big, stupid mouth.

What surprised him, though, was that the rat ran away from him – and called him by his first name. His cousin did that very rarely. Usually they just called each other by the zodiac names to avoid getting closer emotionally. Actually, it was the first time in months when Yuki had called him by the first name.

_What the hell is wrong with me?_ Kyo screamed in his mind. _What does it matter if he hasn't called me by my first name in months? And how the hell did I even know that?_

After school he didn't go home with Touru and… he didn't even know how to call the boy anymore. "The Target"? "The rat"? "Yuki"? "His cousin"? "The pretty boy"? Somehow they all seemed to sound wrong.

Instead of going home, he went to the school library, verified that he was alone and buried himself into the horrifying world of Internet. He had to check something.

Twenty minutes later Kyo was pretty sure that he was becoming crazy. His thoughts were following exactly the same footsteps as all the main character's thoughts in each and every badly written fanfic – he felt like being sucked into the terrifying world of fan fiction.

_The main characters hate each other. The main characters are forced to become romantically linked. The main characters start to think differently of each other. The main characters fall in love_, Kyo gasped in his mind. _Oh-my-god. What am I, a character in badly written fanfic?_

Shigure's books. Badly written fan fiction. That had to be coincidence. Nothing more. Nothing more. Kyo pushed his doubts aside and left the library. Just a coincidence…

Unfortunately he was thinking his cousin too much to sort it as "just a coincidence". He found himself staring at the rat boy at dinner table, and when he was doing his homework, his thoughts lead more often to certain lilac eyes and self-assured smirk than parabolas and functions. When he realised that he had not been able to stop thinking about Yuki for two seconds in the whole day, he became desperate. What the hell had happened to his "I-hate-the-rat"-attitude in, what, bare twenty-four hours?

At seven o'clock he dragged himself downstairs and realised too late that it was not a wise move, because Yuki was there too. Touru beamed happily at him.

"Kyo-kun! Do you want some tea?"

"Sure. Thanks."

Touru ran to the kitchen to prepare some more, and Kyo had no choice but to sit down and share the same space as the person he hadn't able to discard from his thoughts. The rat was absentmindedly sipping his tea and ignoring Kyo, who was just glad because of this. Touru came back with a green cup in her hands.

"Here you go, Kyo-kun!" She stood up. "I'll go ask if Shigure-san wants any! He has been working on his manuscript all day."

Kyo had his doubts about Shigure's true doings (downloading gay porn… reading the same newspaper all day long… doodling _chibi_-figures…), but didn't say anything. Touru left the room, and suddenly there was an ice-cold silence in air. Kyo did his best to ignore it. It really wasn't something new that he and Yuki were in the same room and didn't say anything before Touru came back, right?

_Right_, Kyo sighed in his mind. _I'm just confusing myself more with this rambling._

"Hey cat."

"What?" Kyo was startled to say the least to hear the rat's voice. Yuki clenched his fists.

"You still haven't returned that movie to Haru."

"Well, gee, thanks for worrying about it so much, _father_," Kyo sneered. "Wasn't exactly the first thing on my mind today."

"What was, then?" Yuki smirked. "My excellent kissing skills?"

"Shut up, you damn rat! As if I'd ever be thinking about you!"

"What happened to your 'I'm-not-giving-up-until-I-defeat-you'-philosophy? I doubt that you can live by that without thinking of me."

"Gah! Stop freaking me out, you rat!" Kyo slammed his cup to the table and simply ran away. The rat's remark about their kiss had once again made Kyo's face burn and his heart beating hundred times faster than usual. He tore his door cruelly open and collapsed on his _futon_, heart still beating fast and irrational thoughts spinning in his head.

_Yuki's lips. Yuki's smile. Yuki's scent. Yuki's soft hair. Scent. Lips. Kiss… Yuki— _

This was _not_ happening. Things like that didn't happen in real life. Stupid bets about playing with people's stupid feelings happened only in gay-doujinshi, or in trash fan fiction. They just _didn't_ exist in real life. And if they did, they weren't supposed to be leading anything. Nothing was supposed to happen even if he kissed his cousin. _Nothing_ was supposed to happen when their relationship was questioned. Nothing! And still, here he was, head filled with thoughts about his cousin and wishes that things were differently, that perhaps there was a chance that they could proceed from being enemies to being friends... Scratch that, straight to being more than friends.

_It's official. I've lost my mind_, Kyo whined. _It's the rat's fault. He's the one who has been putting these stupid ideas to my head! He's the one who made me even suggest the idea of… of… I can't finish it._

"Running away, are we?" Kyo jumped when he heard Shigure's voice – he hadn't heard him enter. Shigure was leaning to the doorframe, oddly tender smirk on his lips and hands crossed. A sudden urge to hiss at Shigure tried to take over Kyo – a reminder of his cat instincts – but he fought it down and returned to stare at his older cousin.

"What?" he barked, when Shigure didn't say anything. Shigure sighed.

"You won't listen to me anyway, so I won't bother… But perhaps this will give you the push you need, either way." Shigure handed out an envelope, and when Kyo just glared at him, placed it on Kyo's table. "I talked with Kazuma." (Kyo jumped slightly when he heard his father's name mentioned.) "… and I guess that's all I have to say, because you won't listen to me anyway. But just so you know, I know all the facts." He smiled in an unfeigned way – so rare an incident that it startled Kyo more than his thoughts had all day – and exited the room. Kyo stared blankly at the door for a while, then got to his feet and picked up the envelope from his table. He tugged the shining photo from the inside.

It was a close-up picture of him and Yuki, kissing on the rooftop. Yuki's eyes were only half-open, and Kyo's own eyes were completely shut. His hands were gently on Yuki's shoulders, and Yuki's left hand was slightly touching his back. The atmosphere of the picture was peaceful and tender, far from what he had expected it to be – awkward and tense. Kyo could now fully understand why the Yaoi Fan Club members were so excited about the incident; He had to admit that judging merely by their expressions in the picture one could really be fooled to think that they were a real couple. In the picture there was nothing left of their usual anger, hatred and jealousy. It was peaceful in every single way.

_Trash fan fiction_, his brain suddenly snapped._ You're thinking exactly the way the fan fiction writers would like you to think. You're actually admitting that you like that stupid picture! Instead you should be tossing Shigure's insides into the river right now, because that lying mutt managed to get his disgusting pictures anyway! Even when you destroyed them!_

Kyo growled in frustration and threw the picture furiously to the floor. Screw fan fiction. Screw Shigure's over-clichéd books. Screw gay-doujinshi. Screw the picture. Screw everything! Now there were only two important questions to be answered:

1. Could he somehow steal the remaining pictures from Shigure?  
2. … and what was Yuki thinking right now?

* * *

TBC 


	6. About Butterflies and Kisses

**A/N:** This is the last chapter, thanks for reading in advance. If you're interested (or bored) enough, please read my author's note at the bottom. I'm done with wasting space here.

**Edit:** Corrected few spelling errors that managed to slip from me. Thanks to _truest-of-true-loves_ for pointing those out. :)

* * *

**_Of Bets And Butterflies_**

_by eishi © 2007_

* * *

Chapter Six: About Butterflies and Kisses

The next few days went in a daze for Yuki. The days and his nightly dreams were pretty much the same, the only difference being that his dreams gave him a much more detailed version of Kyo. Being awake at days felt like torture, because Kyo was so close but still so far away – waking up at nights from his dreams felt worse, because he had to realise every time that he was indeed awake, that his bad dream refused to remain just as a bad dream. Reality and dreams merged in his mind, until he was completely confused about the real situation, and the only thing that kept him going was the routine.

His friends were worried about him, naturally, but no one could do a single thing for him. He actually turned down every helping hand and shut himself from the world, because he couldn't figure out what to do next. There was nothing he could do, and it felt worse than anything had ever felt in his whole life.

Kyo was still avoiding him, but occasionally broke the silence between them by commenting something so random that it made Yuki even more confused. Each and every time they were left alone – for example in the dinner table, when Honda-san went to fetch Shigure – Kyo would first look everywhere else but to him, and then say something about Honda-san's cooking or Shigure's dirty books. Yuki could never answer to these statements, because he was too busy trying to set his eyes to Kyo's nose or hair or even ears instead of his lips. Still, he found it irritating and at the same time heart-warming that Kyo tried to restore their relationship to the level it had been: being indifferent of each other and ganging up on Shigure and Ayame when needed. However, heart-warming or not, it made him irritated and sad to notice that Kyo was furiously trying to turn back time, not to go forward.

When it had been three days of The Incident (their kiss had actually earned that needlessly capitalized name at school) and Friday dawned, Yuki was pretty sure that he really needed a therapist. If it was torture seeing Kyo at school, how could he manage a whole weekend with the cat?

"Hey Prince, you alright?" Uotani-san asked him before the first lesson. Yuki had barely sat down and placed his bag on the ground, and they were already all over him. "You look tired."

"I am tired, thanks for asking," Yuki replied calmly. _Smile. Smile. Keep smiling… keep smiling… They don't have to know…_

Uotani-san and Hanajima-san shared a quick glance, then looked again to Yuki, who was pretending to be busy with his Math book. Hanajima-san coughed.

"Your book is upside down, Souma-san."

Yuki thanked the Lord above that he wasn't the type to blush. He turned the book quickly the right way and kept looking at it and hoped that they would understand to leave him alone. Uotani-san sighed.

"God, you are stubborn. Why won't you just admit that—"

"There is nothing to admit, Uotani-san."

"See! Seems like stubborn to me! You won't even discuss the fact that you and K—"

Yuki was barely saved by their teacher, who happened to walk in just as Uotani-san was beginning to shout. She closed her mouth faster than Yuki had ever seen, swung around and sat to her place. Hanajima-san disappeared too. For the first time, Yuki was actually glad that their horrible English lesson started: he didn't want to know what Uotani-san had attempted to say about him and… Kyo. Perhaps she was suggesting that he should beat the crap out of his poor cousin and then everything could go back to normal. That would be Uotani-san's style, really…

"Souma, the fifth question?"

Yuki returned back to reality and started to list the irregular verbs that were needed in forming the sentence.

* * *

Kyo was fed up with the situation. To be precise, he had had enough of himself and the stupid rat, who was clearly intimidated by him. He hated the fact that every time he tried to say something to the rat, the words would freeze on his tongue and something ridiculous came out – just the opposite of what he had tried to say. If he tried to be nice to the rat, the other would eye him suspiciously and then he would end up saying something even more confusing. If he tried to act normal, in other words shout and insult his cousin, the rude usual lines he used would suddenly disappear from his mind and he would end up shouting even harsher than he had intended. 

The picture Shigure had given him was nowadays always with him – he had put it in his pocket and glanced at it whenever he was nervous or feeling upset. It would soothe his nerves, and yet, seconds later, turn his insides around. Stupid picture and his stupid thoughts just wouldn't let him alone.

He knew it was absolutely crazy to even think that somehow their relation would mature – they had been stuck in that childish, jealousy-filled state for too long. Even after Touru had convinced them to really look at each other and they had been able to admit that _yes_, they were jealous of other's abilities and that _yes_, they knew it was stupid, nothing had changed. People didn't just fall on each other's neck after sharing a rivalry for over twelve years. People didn't just have a change of heart in one day. People didn't just change like that, no matter how Touru had wished them to be the one and only exception. Real life just wasn't easy as that.

That thought made Kyo sad – he had been thinking for three days straight how to explain his feelings and sudden urges to his cousin ("you know, er, maybe, we could like, uh, you know, proceed from level one to level two…") but even his most detailed descriptions and explanations were nonsense that no one was able understand, not even him. His thoughts were running in circles: from happiness and determination to sadness and despair.

And being like that made him even more confused. He now realised that he had been utterly confused from the moment their lips had touched – no one had ever told him that life could sometimes offer so unexpected options that you wouldn't be able to choose.

_Just when did I exactly turn into a psychoanalyst?_ Kyo growled in his mind. _Concentrate, Souma! Concentrate! You have to learn this stupid vocabulary!_

Kyo pushed his thoughts aside and looked at his English book. The chapter they were going through was, ironically, about social relations and basic human psychology. Kyo was even more convinced now that if there was a God, his only sense of humour was a sense of irony.

"Repeat after me," their teacher said, "'psychoanalysis'."

Kyo snorted, but obeyed. The classroom echoed with the word.

"'Psychology'."

_He must hate me._

"'Self-esteem'."

Kyo stole a glance at his cousin, who was sitting by the window. The look on his face was blank.

"Synonyms: 'self-confidence', 'self-respect'."

_He doesn't care at all._

"'Diagnosis'."

The rat turned his head a bit, and their eyes met. There was a quick mixture of surprise, curiosity and something that Kyo couldn't apprehend before the look in Yuki's face changed to the same blankness it had been earlier. Kyo turned his gaze away.

"'Mental disorder'."

_He hates me._

The terms the teacher was trying to insert into their brains turned into a mumble in his head, and the rustle of pens and papers disappeared from his mind. He stared at the one point on his desk, one painful thought hammering in his head:

_Yuki hates me._

"I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!"

His notes, pens and scribbles flung into the air, the class went silent and their teacher let out an astonished sound. Kyo toppled his desk and ran to the window, opened it and jumped down. The class shrieked, but their cries disappeared soon from Kyo's ears. He looked around at the yard for a moment, and then, persecuted by the one sentence in his head, he ran away.

* * *

Yuki remembered Kyo's first day at Kaibara High: the cat had been so embarrassed because of the girls that kept looking at him and wondering his hair and features that had finally jumped out of the window and ran away. The only difference this time was that they were in the third floor, and Kyo could actually get hurt. Even if Kyo was possessed by the revengeful spirit of the cat, that didn't necessarily mean that he _was_ a cat. 

And being a _human_ that had just jumped from the third floor meant that he could get hurt.

"Souma? Where do you think—"

"Student council meeting," Yuki snapped and slammed the door after him. He ran down the stairs and stopped when he reached the main entrance – why was he doing this, really? Why was he even trying to go after the cat? They would just end up fighting, as always. Nothing would ever change.

Yuki stood there for a moment, then made his decision and rushed after his cousin. He had a vague idea of where the cat might've been, but first there was something he wanted to confirm.

* * *

Souma Kazuma had been expecting a visit from a certain relative of his for a while, so when a troubled Souma Yuki appeared to his door, he didn't even try to act surprised. Yuki, on the other hand, was. 

"You knew? I mean…"

"I've been wondering about when you would come here," Kazuma replied with a smile. "Come on in."

Yuki stepped to the _dojo_, still seemingly confused and troubled that he was here. Kazuma lead him to a room that only contained only a few pieces of furniture – a _kotatsu_, a couple of pillows for sitting next to it and a lonely painting on the wall. They sat down, and then there was an awkward silence for a moment. Yuki was having trouble at finding something to settle his eyes on, and finally gave up and raised his head to meet Kazuma's gaze.

"Shigure mentioned that he visited you."

"Yes, he was here a few days ago." Kazuma gave him an assuring smile, but didn't push the boy. He would say whatever was in his mind on his own time.

Yuki played with a strand of his hair nervously, then stopped it suddenly and asked:

"What did he want?"

"Shigure?" When Yuki didn't say anything, Kazuma continued: "Nothing too perverted, if that's what you're worried about. He just inquired my son's health."

"Health?" Yuki repeated, disbelief written all over his face.

"And what I knew about that incident between you two."

Yuki bent his head, probably on purpose: his forelock was now covering his eyes. There was a brief silence between them.

"Do you… do you know… of… what—what he…"

"What Kyo is thinking about that?" Kazuma said helpfully. Yuki nodded. "I can't be too sure, but obviously he is confused. He was here that day, right after that incident."

Kazuma wasn't quite sure why he was avoiding the word 'kiss'; it just seemed somehow improper to link the two of them with such a strong term. He wasn't even sure was he relieved, surprised, happy or indifferent to notice that once the relation of these two cousins had been questioned, it had been forced to change. It wasn't a thing he should poke his nose into, but after all, it involved his son and his close relative.

So when Yuki came to ask for his advice, even if in such a clumsy way, he did his best to offer such.

"Yuki, it is obvious that he cares about you. Just like you care about him too. It's always been like that – you two have just been too stubborn to admit it."

Yuki still avoided his eyes, but murmured: "He hates me."

"'Hate' is such a strong word. In my opinion, 'dislike' is better… and besides, I think that that hatred is only directed at your zodiac." Upon hearing this, Yuki looked up, even more confused look on his face. "Talk with him. After all, I can't read his thoughts. I'm just repeating what I told Shigure earlier."

Yuki opened his mouth, but said nothing, and then closed it. They sat a moment there, before Yuki got up and bowed.

"Thank you, Kazuma-dono."

Kazuma bowed politely back and watched how Yuki walked out, knees shaking. Kazuma called after him:

"Yuki?" When he saw the boy stop, he continued: "Just… whatever you choose to do, do it because you want to. Not… not because you feel forced to do so."

Yuki didn't reply.

* * *

Kyo didn't notice the approaching figure until it was too late and he couldn't get away. Yuki sat down beside him. 

"I had a feeling that I'd find you here," he said silently.

Kyo couldn't say anything: he had suddenly forgotten the art of talking. They shared a long silence.

"How?" Kyo finally asked.

"Because we've been here before."

Again a silence fell over them. Kyo looked at the restless river that was forming different curly shapes of waves. Yuki was right: he had come there because it held memories of them together. It was the spot where Touru had first met Haru, and where Yuki had once had an asthma attack. Such a dull place, and yet Kyo's subconscious mind had chosen it out of all possible places to come…

"You ran away again," the rat stated flatly. Kyo snorted.

"It was a stupid lesson. Who needs those synonyms anyway?"

"You, for instance. English still is the lingua franca nowadays."

Kyo didn't point out that he had no idea what "lingua franca" meant. That was irrelevant compared to the butterflies in his stomach.

The image that was actually very concretely in his pocket appeared to his mind, and suddenly the number of butterflies seemed to have doubled. He bit back a curse just in time. Even if he had been planning this particular moment for many days now, all of his excellent plans seemed to have disappeared from his mind. His usually infinite stock of sentences to use on the rat was suddenly down to two: "hey" and "um". Even Touru's constant training to human contact had not taught him how to open a discussion with someone so confusing character as Yuki.

"I visited Kazuma-dono," his cousin said before he could murmur his planned remark about how long their silence had been. He had to admit, Yuki's opening was a lot better.

"Yeah?" Kyo answered, because he couldn't invent anything else. Yuki coughed.

"He told me that… um… That… you were very confused about that… after that… kiss."

Kyo felt his cheeks burning. "And you weren't?"

"I didn't say that."

Kyo restrained from mocking his cousin – saying that it was unbelievable to hear that even _the rat_ could be confused at times would just ruin their attempts to talk in a mature way. He shifted uncomfortably and tried to find a good position while laying his back on the ground.

"I was confused," Kyo finally said, trying to keep his voice calm but failing miserably. "And I still am."

Yuki glanced at him, but Kyo kept his eyes on the river and the wild greenness on the opposite riverbank. The waves let out sighs of dissatisfaction as they disappeared two second after being born.

"I have been a long, long time."

They fell back to silence, and this time the butterflies in Kyo's stomach seemed to have tripled. He opened his mouth to say something, anything, but nothing came out. Yuki glanced at him again, and he quickly closed his mouth. Silence prolonged.

"Kyo?"

"Hnh?"

"You know that I don't hate you, don't you?"

Kyo closed his eyes. "I know, and vice versa, stupid rat."

He heard the grass crackle when his cousin switched position. Kyo remained eyes closed, reluctant to open them because the sun would dazzle him otherwise. A warm breath on his forehead startled him and he opened his eyes just in time to catch a glimpse of Yuki's violet eyes before they closed. For the second time in his life, the stunning scent of lavender, earth and plants in harmony caught his whole attention and he almost forgot about the weight that was on his lips.

The kiss lasted only for few seconds, so Kyo had barely time to register that he had been kissed by none else but his cousin and he had actually let him do that. When Yuki pulled away, Kyo sat up.

"Why… why did you do that?" he asked, dumbfounded. He was blushing heavily, and the familiar butterflies in his stomach had suddenly gone wild. Yuki smiled.

"Because I wanted to."

"You're too cocky for you own good, damn rat. Do you think you can always get what you want?" Kyo tried to conceal the painfully loud pounding of his heart by his own voice, but failed – his insides were still spinning and he was feeling very light-headed. Yuki gave a laugh.

"No. I know that I always get what I want." Kyo snorted loudly.

"Stupid rat."

"Damn cat," Yuki added, still smiling. They looked at each other right in the eye, unable to turn their gazes away. A second stretched to a minute in their minds, and after a moment that felt like an eternity, Kyo coughed:

"Do you—you want to… er… you know… I mean—if you want to…"

Yuki looked the other way. "Well… It might be worth a shot."

They were silent after that. Neither knew what to do; their feelings were still so insecure that saying them aloud might've destroyed that entire frail bond they were sharing. Instead of speaking, they chose the silence – this time it felt both comfortable and uncomfortable at the same time.

Kyo spotted Yuki's hand from the corner of his eye, and without hesitation took it into his own. Yuki looked at him confused, but then smiled. They watched the waves arise from the formless mass of water until the sight lost its meaning.

"You know that there will be a lot of trouble to arise?"

"I'm not stupid," Kyo snorted. "Take Kagura for instance…"

"Or Haru."

"Don't worry about him. He's got a girl nowadays."

"Huh?" Yuki blinked. "Is that why—"

"Why he stopped chasing after you, yeah."

Yuki smiled softly. "Why were you spending so much time with him, anyway?"

"Because of the bet, stupid." Kyo coughed. "He… he was training me."

Yuki stared at Kyo – then he started to laugh. "You're so stupid sometimes."

"I know," Kyo grumbled, but he was smiling as well. "What about your fan club?"

"They've already switched over to the Yaoi Club, I'm pretty sure about that," Yuki smirked. "Besides, it's not like you couldn't defend yourself…"

"You're flattering me."

"No, I mean it. Fan girls can be terrifying."

Kyo smiled. Now that they had actually started talking, the words were flowing out without having to plan every syllable and thinking how to pronounce them. It was actually much easier to talk with Yuki than he had anticipated.

"Shigure's going to shout for joy when he finds out. We've offered him a lifetime supply of gay jokes on a silver platter."

"Stop creeping me out, rat! I'm not gay!"

"Apparently, you are."

"I'm not! It's only you, and you're more feminine than most girls!"

Yuki hit Kyo on the head, but there was no force in his punch. "Quit avoiding the subject. I know very well that you've hidden a pretty good collection of gay-doujinshi behind your bookshelf."

Kyo blushed. "How'd you find out?"

"Honda-san told me. She _does_ clean your room, after all."

_Damn Touru_, Kyo thought. He got distracted from blaming Touru by Yuki's laugher.

"You know that we have at least one thing in common?"

"And, pray tell, what is that?"

"We both have a copy of that _Naruto_ doujinshi… and in both cases, it's hidden behind a bookshelf."

"You sneaky little bastard! You have that one too?"

"Of course!"

They both burst out laughing, just because of the absurdity of the situation. The laughter died slowly, and they were left again in silence, but this time it wasn't uncomfortable by any means. Kyo clutched Yuki's hand – he had a vague feeling that if he let go, the wonderful dream might disappear.

He stole a glance at his cousin, who was happily following the movements of the grass on the other side of the river. When the look on Yuki's face suddenly turned to sad, Kyo barked a rude:

"What?" Yuki shook his head.

"I… I just thought… what if Akito finds out? No—when he finds out—"

"Is that all you're worried about?"

Yuki shot a confused look at him. "Well… yeah."

"Don't you worry about Akito. He's given his blessing to us."

It was Yuki's turn to bark a hasty "what". Kyo smirked.

"Well, Hatori sort of drugged him and then Shigure manipulated him to believe that the romance between the cat and the rat had been his own planning the whole time…"

(He could imagine Akito laughing evilly right now: "They'll be so miserable in that abusive relationship! This is so much better than torturing them on their own!")

Yuki's confusion turned into laughter. "Idiot cat! Who's a sneaky bastard now?"

"What? I was just playing it safe!"

"So you asked them to—"

"Actually, Shigure offered that option himself."

"Really?" Yuki snorted. "Probably because he felt guilty about selling those pictures to the Yaoi Club…"

"_What_?" Kyo was now clutching Yuki's hand so tight that it hurt. "I'm going to kill him."

Yuki gave out a short laugh, and Kyo noticed that he had lost his aggression upon hearing that rare sound. They glanced at each other, but turned their eyes elsewhere when their gazes met. It still felt too weird to be able to look the other in the eye without having to snarl something rude to maintain the image. Once again, a silence fell over them.

"You want… you want to… um… stay here?" Kyo stuttered after a time that felt like an eternity. Yuki smiled sheepishly.

"Sure," he replied. After that there was no need to talk for a long, long time. They watched the waves in peace, both enjoying the chilly breeze that made the silence even more comfortable by talking in their place. Kyo stole a glance at his cousin, who had apparently just done the same, since he turned quickly his eyes back to the river. A smile fought its way again to Kyo's face. There was still much left unsaid and much left overcome, including the same old things that had hurt and made them jealous for years, but right now… right now all he wanted was to enjoy the wonderful butterflies that filled his stomach every time he saw that Yuki was looking at him, and him alone.

* * *

There were few things that Souma Shigure had pictured in his mind so many times that when they actually happened, he had hard time believing his own eyes. Watching his ever-arguing younger cousins approach the house side by side in silence, hands joined and slight blushes on their faces was something that he had been hoping to see but had never really believed in. He clasped his hands together. 

"It was about time, you two love-sick fools! About time!"

"Shut up!" Kyo snapped. Yuki just shook his head.

"Kyo-kun! Yuki-kun!" Touru rushed from the kitchen to the living room when the cousins entered. Shigure hid his smirk by turning slightly away: the looks on his cousins' faces were something that he would treasure for long. Poor things must have really thought that they would be rejected by darling Touru-kun…

"I'm so happy for you! You've finally made up, haven't you?"

"I think you need to change that preposition, Touru-kun…" Shigure couldn't resist the chance. "The right verb might be 'made out'…"

"SHUT UP!" both boys exclaimed. Shigure and Touru snickered.

"Now, seriously, what happened? Touru-kun told me that you both played hooky for half the day!"

Shigure bit down the squeal that was about to escape from his lips when the boys glanced at each other. How _cute_ could young love get?

"Sorry to disappoint you, Shigure, but nothing dirty… by your standards, anyway," Yuki smirked. Shigure let out a sigh.

"Aw! I _am_ disappointed!"

"Pervert," Kyo grumbled. "I'll be in my room."

"You're running away – again, Kyo-kun!" Shigure pouted when Kyo rushed away. Yuki sighed, and began to take off his shoes. When Shigure had gazed at him long enough, Yuki finally gave in and shrugged.

"It's… Nothing happened, really…"

"I think the truth's exactly the opposite," Shigure smiled. Touru-kun nodded firmly, grasping her apron tightly as if to use it as a substitute for a mother's hand. Shigure had to resist the urge to offer her his own hand – Yuki would have found that highly unacceptable.

"Shigure, I'm serious. Nothing happened… I guess." The confused look in Yuki's eyes told Shigure not to push the matter; maybe the boys had yet to find out what the whole thing meant for them before spreading the word. (Well, that wouldn't keep Shigure from planning a call on Aya… and Haa-san… and Kazuma-dono… and countless of other relatives…)

"You'll find it out in your own time," Shigure winked. "I'm sure about that."

"I'm so happy for you two, Yuki-kun!" Touru cried in such a high-pitched voice that it would have made their ears ache had they not been used to it. "So happy!"

"Thank you, Honda-san," Yuki murmured. He clearly didn't know what to make of Touru's overreaction. "Er, I'll be in my room, too…"

"The dinner! I almost forgot about the dinner! Excuse me, Shigure-san, Yuki-kun!" She disappeared to the kitchen, and the usual sounds of cooking were soon filling the air. Yuki turned to the stairs, walked to them, then stopped. Shigure waited patiently.

"You… How did you… I mean—"

"We've all seen it from the start, Yuki," Shigure smiled. "From the very start."

Yuki looked at him suspiciously, then smiled suddenly. After giving a short nod he climbed up and went to his room. Shigure sighed. Three years of hard work, and they had only proceeded to the level of holding hands… This meant more work for him and dear Aya. (Well, at least he had been able to create a perverted Touru as a by-product, and that had taken less than two weeks.)

Smiling, Shigure turned on his heel and ran to his room.

"Aya! Aya! Guess what! Our genius plan to pair up the villains up has finally born fruit!" he shouted to the phone even before the snake had answered. After all, his shy younger cousins would just try to silence him in approximately three seconds or so…

* * *

Even if there had been a weekend to split the routine of school for few days, the moment the Souma cousins (or, as they were usually called, the Gay Cousins) walked in the school gates, the rumours had already reached each and every student's ears. Touru was walking in between them, they were avoiding each other's gazes and everything looked normal… 

"So how did they find out?" Kyo-kun pouted during the lunch break. He, Yuki-kun and Touru were on the rooftop, which was blissfully empty of other students, and fighting to keep their voice down. For Kyo, it was extremely hard. His hand shook in rage as he continued: "Two guys missing at the same time and they are already drawing conclusions out of it!"

"Kyo-kun, don't be mad at them!" Touru tried to calm him down. Yuki-kun was still eating his _miso_ soup, undisturbed. "Th-they are just happy for you!"

"Happy my ass! Perverts they are, each and every one of them!"

"Don't you dare play a saint, you," Yuki snorted, "when you have one of the most largest collection of _Naruto_ yaoi-doujinshi in whole Japan…"

"Sh-shut up, rat!" Kyo-kun blushed, but there was a hint of amusement in his eyes, and Touru didn't miss that. She smiled as she watched her two friends engage in a trade of insults concerning their sexual orientations, zodiac forms and _Naruto_. Even if they hadn't realised it yet, the base for a romantic relationship between them had always been there. Always. Their verbal shout contests, martial arts' fights, shared glares and non-verbal insults… all those things had been done in a half-joking way, but that had always been in the shadow of the other half: jealousy. She sighed. It was a bit rich of them to call _her_ an idiot, when it had taken her three days and them three years to realise that they didn't hate each other.

"Don't be an ass, rat! You know just as well as me that Orochimaru _never_ lusted after Kabuto! He's always been head over heels with his stupid Sasuke-kun!"

"You're not just looking hard enough! Didn't you see that episode where he said that Kabuto had been 'such a loyal servant'? And, besides, imagine all the things he could do with his tongue…"

"You _freak_!"

"Idiot!"

"Stupid rat!"

Touru sighed. Perhaps it would take a little more time from them both to become terms with the fact that they no longer needed to fake hate…

"Hey, Gay Cousins!"

Kyo and Yuki, who had been trying to strangle each other, stopped abruptly when they saw the strange group approach. Touru stood up.

"Uo-chan! Hana-chan! And Momiji-kun… and Hatsuharu-san, too! Have you eaten your lunch yet?"

"Nope, that's what we're here for," Uo grinned. "And, of course, to watch the interesting show you two will put up." She nodded at Kyo-kun and Yuki-kun, who suddenly realised that they were still pretty close, gripping each other's collars.

"We're not a freak show, Yankee!" Kyo shouted and pushed Yuki away from him. Uo laughed.

"Oh, of course not. Just the hottest couple in the whole school."

"Uotani-san…" Yuki warned. Hana-chan coughed.

"Such wonderful brain waves… And no longer trapped."

"I agree," Hatsuharu-san said nonchalantly, even though he clearly had no idea what was Hana-chan's true meaning. (Although, that didn't bother Hana at all. She was just happy that someone would finally comment her observations.) He directed a look at Yuki: "Told you it would all end happily."

Yuki-kun glared at him, still unable to understand Hatsuharu-san's odd statement. Kyo-kun, on the other hand, seemed to catch to cow's meaning well, because he blushed.

"You've been watching too much romantic comedies again, Haru."

"So have you, since you remember that line."

"Touché."

Uo tilted her head. "Whoa, someone's been practising big words. Did you invent that all by yourself?"

"Shut up, Yankee!"

"Uotani-san, please try not to provoke him—" Yuki-kun tried to interrupt, but his sentence was cut when Momiji-kun ran forward and took Kyo-kun into a tight embrace.

"Yay! Will you two get married? Will there be a wedding? When? When?"

"Momiji, let go of him," Hatsuharu-san warned. Touru had to suppress the laughter that was about to erupt: the scene was just too comical. The jealous look on Yuki-kun's face, the sly smile on Hatsuharu-san's lips, the half-amused and half-irritated look Kyo-kun shot at Momiji-kun, who was clinging to his back and smiling and shouting happily, the small smile that was slowly occupying Hana-chan's lips, the rarely seen true smile of Uo-chan, and the prettiest blue sky in ages as a background for the whole scene…

Perhaps life wasn't perfect, and it never was easy, and it was complicated, filled with irrational obstacles and prejudices of people, and optimism was highly underrated, but sometimes, as a refreshing ray of hope, there were perfect moments between the continuity of dullness.

It was so easy to smile.

* * *

A/N: Here we are! Congratulations, you've just made it through my whole fic without any noticeable brain damage! The author does not take responsibility for any kind of side effects caused by this fic (e.g. gagging because of the yucky happiness, clichés or Touru's ever-optimistic thoughts). 

... Ahem. Onto the more pressing issues.

Thanks to all of you. It made me very happy — if not confused at the same time — that so many read, reviewed, alerted and/or favourited this fic with a dead horse as a plot line and a sad attempt as humour. Now that we've reached the very ending, I'd like to ask you to take two irreplaceable minutes of your lives to use on a feedback. Just tell me if you liked my fic as a whole, and if you did/didn't, why and what parts especially. (Grammatical corrections and suggestions about idioms and such are greatly appreciated, since English isn't unfortunately my native language!) It's not that hard — I'm not expecting essays, few lines will just be fine. :)

I don't know what else to say except for thanking you. Guess I'm off to writing my next fic, then.

Hugs to all of you,  
-- eishi


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